Root ton dominates England chase

England

England Lions made light work of New Zealand's first innings score in their warm-up match at Grace Road, ending day two just 66 runs behind on 219 for two, with skipper Joe Root unbeaten on 105.

England Lions made light work of New Zealand's first innings score in their warm-up match at Grace Road, ending day two just 66 runs behind on 219 for two, with skipper Joe Root unbeaten on 105.

Root and opener Michael Carberry dominated the day for the Lions, putting on 182 runs together after the Kiwis were all out for 285 after lunch. The pair batted at a good pace, and Carberry was unlucky to be out for 77, caught by Dean Brownlie off Bruce MArtin near the close.

The day started with the Black Caps XI in a solid position on 184 for three, with 116 of those runs going to Hamish Rutherford, who was still in the middle. The strong position didn't last long into the morning though as he could only add 10 runs to his score.

After Rutherford was dismissed via run out to Chris Woakes, it was Toby Roland-Jones to continued to impress. He ended the knock with four wickets, adding Doug Bracewell and Trent Boult to his over night tally to end the innings.

The Lions got off to a poor start, losing Varun Chopra for just four, but the experience Carberry and prodigy Root soon wiped that wicket from the memory. Carberry struck 13 boundaries in his knock, while Root hit a six and 15 fours.

The day ended with Chris Wright in as night watchman, and he faced 19 balls without getting off the mark, rather allowing Root to score the runs and bag his century as bad light crept over the ground.

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