Carberry puts Kiwis to the sword

TOUR MATCH
Rose Bowl, day three of four (stumps): England Lions 280 & 275-5 v New Zealand 273

Match scorecard

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Carberry retired hurt soon after completing his century

Hampshire opener Michael Carberry hit a century but was then stretchered off as England Lions built a lead of 282 runs on the third day against New Zealand.

The Kiwis resumed on 261-9, and Aaron Redmond added six runs to his overnight 139 before he fell to Graham Onions.

Carberry then took over, striking a 183-ball century, including 13 fours and a six, before he had to retire with a leg injury.

Wicket-keeper Matt Prior then struck 47 to help the Lions to 275-5 at stumps.

Dropped more for his errors behind the stumps than his ability with the bat following the pre-Christmas tour to Sri Lanka, the Sussex man knows he faces a tough battle to regain his international place following the success of Tim Ambrose in New Zealand.

But he continued a fine start to the season with a hard-fought knock that was only ended by an excellent Jeetan Patel delivery that trapped him lbw.

His was the last wicket of the day, after Carberry had held the England innings together as several batsmen got in and got out at the Rose Bowl.

606: DEBATE IMHO there is a dearth of proven 'orthodox' opening batsmen worldwide in Test cricket -let alone in England KipperJohn

Lions captain Rob Key drove his side forward when they began their reply with a succession of boundaries, but fell lbw to all-rounder Jacob Oram just as lunch approached.

And by the time Carberry had brought up his half-century off 127 balls, Owais Shah and Ravi Bopara had both fallen to paceman Chris Martin.

However, the Hampshire batsman's departure was less dignified than his patient knock, the 27-year-old leaping in the air to celebrate his century and coming down clutching his leg.

It emerged after play that he was suffering with severe cramp but will be fine to field on the final day on Sunday.

Luke Wright attempted to give the innings fresh impetus following Carberry's exit but was given lbw to seamer Tim Southee after hitting two fours and a six in his quickfire 15.

But even though Prior fell late in the day, England Lions looked like they had done enough to ensure the Black Caps face an uncomfortable final day on Sunday.

And 26-year-old Prior said afterwards: "It's a huge disappointment when you're left out.

"But there are two routes and you can either knuckle down, work harder and look at the areas you want to improve on, or sit down and feel sorry for yourself and I wasn't prepared to do the second one.

"I've tried to work as hard as possible on areas I thought needed improving and I'm happy with the way things are going at the moment."