by Zak Crawley scored a brisk 94 on the first day of warm-up of England’s Test in New Zealand, a remarkable effort as the bowlers dominated in Queenstown.
It was a revolving door at the picturesque Sir John Davies Oval, with the tourists dismissing the Prime Minister’s XI for 136 in green and seaming conditions before being bowled out for 249 in reply.
Crawley hit 14 boundaries and two sixes in a dashing 90-ball innings, but fell one big short of his hundred, caught off the bowling of former Black Caps Under-19 captain Jesse Tashkoff.
England’s next highest score was 42 from Ollie Pope, needing runs after a lean spell and leading the side again in the absence of captain Ben Stokes.
Stokes has a long-standing indifference to low-stakes tour matches and his decision to sit out ahead of next week’s first Test in Christchurch is not seen as fitness-related.
The 33-year-old missed the first match of England’s recent defeat in Pakistan and contributed just 10 overs in the next two, but he bowled in net practice and did so again before the start of the game.
Ben Duckett (18), Joe Root (11) and Harry Brook (27) scored their runs quickly but briefly and Jordan Cox, set to make his Test debut as a replacement for father-to-be Jamie Smith, was caught and bowled for 11 by local skipper Troy Johnson.
Smith, replacing Smith as wicketkeeper, got off to an encouraging start when he made a precise diving catch to hand Gus Atkinson the first scalp of the day.
Atkinson scored in the first two games as he took three for 15 and there were also three for 25 from Chris Woakes.
Brydon Carse, so impressive in his first series against Pakistan, scored four runs for 48, but England met some resistance in the form of 60 from 17-year-old Snehith Reddy.
Matthew Potts and Shoaib Bashir remained wicketless by sending down seven and five overs respectively, while Olly Stone and Jack Leach did not feature.
Both could still play a role as England take their 113-run lead into the second and final day, while Crawley’s top teammates hope to get another chance to gain time ahead of the first Test at Hagley Oval.
