Rain wipes out Kiwi tour warm-up

TOUR MATCH
Canterbury, day three of three (close): Kent 324-1d v New Zealand 92-1

Match scorecard

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Acting captain Jamie How waits in vain for play to start at Canterbury

Heavy rain prevented play on the final day of New Zealand's opening first-class tour fixture against Kent.

After their one-day match at Arundel was curtailed by rain, the Kiwis were hoping for batting practice, but only three batsmen spent time in the middle.

They replied to Kent's 324-1 with 92-1 from 38 overs on Tuesday but Wednesday morning's deluge left huge puddles on the outfield at the St Lawrence ground.

Only local ducks profited from that and the match was abandoned before lunch.

The Kiwis now have two more first-class matches remaining before the first Test against England at Lord's on 15 May.

As Kiwis we enjoy being the underdogs Jamie How

Captain Daniel Vettori, plus Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor, Jacob Oram and Kyle Mills have all arrived in England following their stint in the Indian Premier League.

"It is great to have our best players back but the young guys have had a nice little time to break into the tour," said acting captain Jamie How.

"We were expecting some rain at this time of year and that is why we have quite a packed schedule.

"There is plenty of time left, we did get a bit of a workout in this game but obviously not as much as we hoped for."

How is looking forward to the three-Test series with England, and is confident the Kiwis can be competitive.

New Zealand won the first Test of the series between the teams at Hamilton last winter and How said: "England might have been surprised, I am not sure, but we just strung together a lot of good sessions."

England won the final two matches to take the series 2-1 and How added: "We let ourselves down with a few bad sessions here and there.

"We are a young side and if we string together good sessions we are going to be competitive.

"As Kiwis we enjoy being the underdogs; we are confident and will go about our work and come that first Test we will be up to speed."