Joe Root fine-tunes form with ton

Joe Root brought up a century, and Mark Stoneman and Dawid Malan contributed contrasting 40s as England posted 353/9 on the second and final day of their red-ball warm-up against New Zealand XI.

Root, batting at No.6, played 150 balls for his 115, which included 18 fours and a six. Alastair Cook and Stoneman added a brisk 51 for the opening wicket, before Cook was caught off Logan van Beek.

Stoneman fell for a lively 48 off 58 balls, while Malan, at No.4, consumed a patient 124 for his 45 runs. He accompanied Root in a 90-run stand for the fifth wicket through much of the middle session.

Jonny Bairstow enjoyed a hit out as well, with 32 of his 35 runs coming in boundaries.

Scott Kuggeleijn had 3/67, while Seth Rance (2/61), van Beek (2/30) and Glenn Phillips (2/38) were also among the wickets.

On the first day – each team got to bat a full day irrespective of wickets lost – the Englishmen took 13 wickets, with Martin Guptill top-scoring with 73 for New Zealand XI as they posted 287/13.

Immediately before that, the teams played a two-day warm-up with the pink ball.

The first Test, a pink-ball affair in Auckland, begins on 22 March.