Wright on cue after Kiwis impress

TOUR MATCH
Rose Bowl, day one of four (close): England Lions 280 v New Zealand

Match scorecard

---

Wright played confidently against some disciplined bowling

Luke Wright's superb century held up New Zealand on the opening day of their final warm-up for the opening Test.

The all-rounder smacked two sixes in his 131-ball 120 to help England Lions post 280 having been a precarious 89-5.

Michael Carberry (41) and captain Rob Key (24) ground out 49 in 29 overs but Chris Martin (3-58) sparked a slump.

Wright dominated stands of 81 with Adil Rashid (27) and 77 with Matthew Hoggard (28) and though Jacob Oram (3-34) also bowled well, the day belonged to him.

Playing in front of national selector Geoff Miller, Key and Carberry refused to take any chances on a bouncy but true pitch.

The Kiwis bowled disciplined lines and lengths and it took eight overs to register the first boundary, Key clipping 19-year-old seamer Tim Southee off his legs.

After all-rounder Oram delivered five successive maidens, Carberry finally broke loose in the 24th over, hitting successive fours off off-spinner Jeetan Patel.

Just four balls after the interval, however, Key attempted to force Martin through mid-wicket and was trapped lbw.

Owais Shah edged behind pushing forward defensively and Ravi Bopara lost his stumps five overs later after an inside edge attempting to leave Southee.

Wicket-keeper Matt Prior drove Martin loosely straight to gully and Carberry, who had battled for 44 overs, mis-timed an attempted drive off Iain O'Brien straight to mid-off.

Wright and Rashid took their team to tea without any further setbacks and had put on 81 in 25 overs when Oram struck three times in six overs.

He tempted Rashid into driving straight to short extra-cover, won an lbw shout against Graeme Swann and then had Chris Tremlett caught behind.

Wright, who was dropped on 28 at short mid-wicket off Patel shortly after tea, merely accelerated.

The Sussex star hit Martin for a straight six down the ground and Hoggard provided determined support before Southee rearranged his stumps.

Wright was last man out having reached his century with a slog sweep for six over mid-wicket off Southee (3-80).