SM
Thursday, March 28
Upcoming predictions and previews

Joe Denly overcomes injury concerns to lead England recovery

:Headline: Joe Denly overcomes injury concerns to lead England recovery: ID:379380: from db_amp
Denly registered a battling 68 to lead the recovery after England lurched to 105 for five against New Zealand A.

Joe Denly silenced any lingering concerns over his fitness with one of England's three half-centuries on the penultimate day of their final warm-up before the first Test against New Zealand next week.

On his return from ankle ligament damage that threatened to rule him out of the entire tour, Denly registered a battling 68 to lead the recovery after England had lurched to 105 for five against New Zealand A in Whangarei.

Ollie Pope was caught behind off a no-ball on seven before top-scoring with 88 while Jos Buttler will resume 13 short of his hundred as the tourists closed on 355 for eight in response to the hosts' 302 for six declared.

There were single figure scores for captain Joe Root and deputy Ben Stokes, dismissed within six balls of each other, as England briefly flirted with the follow-on, but a 90-run union between Denly and Pope steadied matters.

England's Ollie Pope (Anthony Devlin/PA)

Denly, who ended the Ashes as an opener and amassed half-centuries in each of the last three Tests, missed the Twenty20 series against the Kiwis after rolling his ankle on the boundary on the eve of the opener in Christchurch.

However, it is now anticipated he will bat at three against the Black Caps in Mount Maunganui while Pope is expected to make his third Test appearance and first in more than a year at number six.

Buttler, meanwhile, has replaced Jonny Bairstow as wicketkeeper in the side and tucked into a flagging attack later in the day to take England past their opponents' total amid a flurry of boundaries.

All three contributed important runs to settle into their roles following a top-order collapse on a pitch England's bowlers had found unresponsive the day before.

Resuming on 26 for one, Dom Sibley was struck on the helmet by Kyle Jamieson before chasing a wider delivery from Blair Tickner and slicing to gully, while nightwatchman Jack Leach got a leading edge to midwicket on 22.

Root looked disconsolately at his bat after being given lbw on two, seemingly after inside edging on to his pad off Daryl Mitchell while, in the next over, Stokes shaped to leave Jimmy Neesham only to under edge to first slip.

Jack Leach (Steven Paston/PA)

Pope benefited from a major slice of fortune after being caught behind only for the umpire to signal a no-ball off Scott Kuggeleijn, a concussion replacement for Hamish Rutherford, who took a blow to the helmet from a Jofra Archer bouncer on Friday.

Had Kuggeleijn not overstepped then England would have slipped to 126 for six, but from that point Denly and Pope cautiously rebuilt.

Denly had his own moments of fortune en route to a half-century, not least when he attempted a sharp single on 46 after clipping into the leg-side, but he was spared by Glenn Phillips's wasteful throw from midwicket.

His 147-ball innings contained three sixes and seven fours before he departed after pulling Tickner into the grateful hands of midwicket.

Buttler got off the mark with a towering six and dominated a 114-run union with Pope, who seemed set to go to three figures only to meekly chip slow left armer Ajaz Patel to mid-on.

Buttler clubbed two sixes in the space of four balls off Mitchell but was content to let Sam Curran (13) and then Jofra Archer (17no) have the strike towards the end of the day.

He will attempt to bring up what would be only his sixth first-class hundred on Sunday.

amp_article__379380 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2019-11-16 08:33:29:
html db last update - 2020-12-31 06:52:15 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html
Share this article now:
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Arsenal28204470244664
2Liverpool28197265263964
3Manchester CityMan City28196363283563
4Aston Villa29175760421856
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs28165759421753
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd28152113939047
7West Ham UnitedWest Ham2912894650-444
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2811985044642
9Wolverhampton WanderersWolves28125114244-241
10Newcastle UnitedNewcastle281241259481140
11Chelsea27116104745239
12Fulham29115134344-138
13Bournemouth2898114152-1135
14Crystal Palace2878133348-1529
15Brentford2975174154-1326
16Everton2887132939-1025
17Luton TownLuton2957174260-1822
18Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest2967163551-1621
19Burnley2945202963-3417
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd2835202474-5014
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .