England lose to NZ XI in Last Warm Up
By Tom James
February 7 2013
England were beaten in the second warm up game against a New Zealand Cricket XI, as the hosts edged a thrilling T20 match to come out winners by three wickets....
A late fightback by captain Stuart Broad, who once again took three wickets, proved in vain, as England failed to build on Tuesday's win over the same opposition.
Still, it was another good batting performance as England posted 170-5 from their 20 overs, with Jos Butler once again hitting a superb half century.
He was superbly aided by Eion Morgan, who also struck 51 runs, as England looked strong in the batting department.
Michael Lumb had earlier got the innings off to a flyer, with a lively knock and some big strikes into the crowd.
However, England's bowlers struggled at times against the counter attacking home batsmen, and even though at one stage it looked like the NZ XI were going to stide home comfortably, the manner of the defeat will give Broad plenty to think about, ahead of Saturday's opening International T20.
England XI Michael Lumb Alex Hales Luke Wright Jonathan Bairstow Eoin Morgan J C Buttler (W) Samit Patel Stuart Broad (C) James Tredwell Steven Finn Jade Dernbach
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