England and New Zealand win rain-hit Cricket World Cup warmups
GUWAHATI, India (AP) — Moeen Ali scored 56 runs off 39 balls to rescue England against Bangladesh in their rain-reduced, 37-over Cricket World Cup warmup on Monday.
Ali smacked six sixes and two fours as England won by four wickets with 77 balls remaining under the DLS method. Ali entered the innings with England on 114-5 in pursuit of 197. He departed with his team on 193.
England finished on 197-6 in 24.1 overs.
Bangladesh chose to bat first and had reached 153-5 in 30 overs when rain stopped play. It went on to score 188-9 in 37 overs before rain again intervened in Guwahati with England set a revised DLS target.
For Bangladesh, Mehidy Hasan Miraz scored 74 off 89 balls and helped build the innings from 26-2 in five overs before he was bowled by David Willey.
He put on 52 runs off 62 balls with Tanzid Hasan (45) but Bangladesh lost regular wickets against the English attack.
Pacer Reece Topley took 3-23 in five overs, while Willey returned 2-26 in his five and Adil Rashid picked up 2-27. Sam Curran (1-23) and Mark Wood (1-9 in three overs) also contributed.
Jonny Bairstow scored 34 off 21 balls before regular wickets started to put England in trouble. Ben Stokes did not bat, while Jos Buttler scored 30 off 15. Liam Livingstone was out for seven runs.
England’s first warmup game against India on Saturday was washed out at the same ground.
NEW ZEALAND WINS
Rain also impacted the other warmup game Monday in Thiruvananthapuram as New Zealand beat South Africa by seven runs under the DLS method.
Devon Conway’s 78 runs and Tom Latham’s 52 helped New Zealand reach 321-6 in the usual 50 overs after opting to bat first. In reply, South Africa was 211-4 in 37 overs when the weather intervened and prevented further play.
Black Caps skipper Kane Williamson enjoyed another workout on his way back from injury, as he batted for 51 deliveries. He scored 37 runs with three fours before retiring.
Conway and Williamson shared a stand of 92 runs. Latham hit fours and a six in his 56-ball stay. Conway hit 11 fours and a six.
Pacers Marco Jansen (3-45) and Lungi Ngidi (3-33) did the damage for the Proteas.
For South Africa, Quinton de Kock led the way with 84 runs off 89 balls. Reeza Hendricks was out lbw first ball to Trent Boult (2-20). Rassie van der Dussen (51) then added 72 runs with de Kock.
New Zealand’s spinners Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner applied the brakes with a wicket each, and South Africa fell below the DLS asking rate as the rain came.
Defending champion England and New Zealand now head to Ahmedabad to contest the tournament opener on Thursday in a repeat of the 2019 World Cup final.
On Tuesday, in the final three warmup games, tournament host India will play the Netherlands in Thiruvananthapuram. Pakistan and Australia meet in Hyderabad, while Afghanistan and Sri Lanka face each other in Guwahati.
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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
