Livingstone sparkles as England lose 14 wickets in a day

New Zealand XI 376/9 (T Blundell 131, K Jamieson 101; J Anderson 4/56) DREW WITH England 319/14 (A Cook 30, Liam Livingstone 88, J Vince 31, J Root 50*; S Rance 3/62, D Bracewell 3/33, S Kuggeleijn 4/50, N Smith 3/45).

The visiting Englishmen lost 14 wickets but failed to top New Zealand XI’s total of 376/9 declared on the second day of the two-day pink-ball tour game at Hamilton’s Seddon Park on Thursday.

New Zealand XI finished up on their overnight score, and the Englishmen were in trouble straightaway as they found themselves on 33/3. As such, the total didn’t matter in a match played only to help the visitors acclimatise before the Test series against New Zealand, but, for the record, when England lost their 10th wicket, they had reached 195 in the 47th over. With some of their batsmen getting a second go, they ended the 90 overs on 319/14.

Liam Livingstone, the 24-year-old Lancashire batsman who played two Twenty20 Internationals against South Africa in June last year, was the only English batsman to make a mark. Him aside, Alastair Cook looked fine during his 30 at the top of the order, firm even as Mark Stoneman (1), James Vince (14), Joe Root (1) and Dawid Malan (13) were dismissed quickly.

Once Cook became the fifth batsman out, Livingstone took over, scoring 88 in 113 balls to give the innings some sheen.

Livingstone, in fact, was around when James Anderson became the tenth wicket to fall, and also when Stoneman came back for a second hit and was dismissed for 2, becoming Scott Kuggeleign’s final victim in a day’s work of 4/50 from 15 overs.

Cook, Vince and Root also came out a second time, and while Cook scored only 2 this time, Vince (31) and Root (50*) spent some useful time in the middle.

Apart from Kuggeleijn, Seth Rance (3/62), Doug Bracewell (3/33) and Nathan Smith (3/45) were among the wickets for the home side as well.

Earlier, on the first day, the New Zealanders were in trouble at 30/5, but rode on centuries from Tom Blundell (131*) and Kyle Jamieson (101) to make the visitors stay on the field for the whole 90 overs.

The Englishmen have another two-day tour game lined up on 16-17 March before the first of two Tests starts at Auckland’s Eden Park on 22 March.