New Zealand slip to warm-up defeat after Ben Compton’s fifth hundred of summer

Cricket

County Select XI 247 (James 52, Patel 3-32) and 264 for 3 (Compton 119, Gubbins 67*) beat New Zealanders 362 for 9 (Henry 65, Mitchell 58, Fletcher 50*, Patterson-White 3-60) and 148 (Porter 5-31, Gibbon 3-36) by seven wickets

New Zealand were beaten by seven wickets in their final warm-up game ahead of Thursday’s first Test against England at Lord’s as Ben Compton‘s fifth hundred of the season led the County Select XI to a surprise win at Chelmsford.
The Select XI – a side comprising the best first-class cricketers who were not required by their counties for the T20 Blast and keen to play – needed another 152 runs to seal victory on the fourth day with nine wickets in hand after Jamie Porter and Ben Gibbon had run through New Zealand’s top order on Saturday.
And Compton – with strong support from Hampshire’s Nick Gubbins – ensured that they cruised to victory midway through the afternoon session, turning his overnight score of 56 not out into 119 before he was bowled, looking to lap-sweep Ajaz Patel‘s left-arm spin.

Upon reaching 83, Compton completed 1,000 red-ball runs in the English summer before the end of May, but his milestone will not be officially recognised. While 878 of his runs have come in the County Championship, this tour match did not have first-class status, with New Zealand keen to use all of their squad members and the Select XI using 12 different players at various stages.

Gubbins, meanwhile, made 67 not out off 121 balls, hitting 10 boundaries including two reverse-sweeps in three balls off Patel. He was at the non-striker’s end when Ryan Patel, the Surrey opening batter used as a No. 5, hit the winning runs over extra cover. Tom Haines, who was not out on 12 overnight, added two runs on Sunday morning before edging behind off Matt Henry, who found extra bounce from a good length.

New Zealand used nine bowlers in their second innings, including spells from Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner and Henry who – with Trent Boult playing in Sunday’s IPL final – appear likely to form a seam quartet at Lord’s next week. Blair Tickner, who tested positive for Covid-19 last week, also bowled, having completed a period of self-isolation.

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