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Cricket

Rain wipes out final day of Kiwi warm-up against Kent

30/04/2008

Heavy rain on the final morning of New Zealand's tour match against Kent caused the match to end in a draw after no play was possible on Wednesday.

The home side had dominated the first day thanks to an unbeaten 178 from Robert Key and James Tredwell's 123.

In reply the tourists managed to reach 92-1, with 53 coming from opener and stand-in captain Jamie How.

Having been unable to complete their first tour match the Black Caps had hoped to get some vital batting practice ahead of the first Test against England on May 15th at Lord's.

But the poor weather on Wednesday meant that most of the Kiwis' batting line-up is yet to spend any time in the middle during the tour.

How insists there is plenty of time in forthcoming fixtures for the rest of the team to get the necessary practice.

"We were expecting some rain at this time of year and that is why we have quite a packed schedule," said How.

"There is plenty of time left, we did get a bit of a workout in this game but obviously not as much as we hoped for."

New Zealand will face Essex in a four-day tour match beginning on Friday before facing the England Lions side the week before the first Test.

The Kiwis will be boosted by the return of Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum and Jacob Oram for the match against Essex following their brief stint playing in the Indian Premier league.