Black Caps beaten

One question was answered emphatically by Luke Ronchi but some other nagging ones will follow the Black Caps to Birmingham with the Champions Trophy fast approaching. Tuesday night’s (9.30pm NZT) warmup match against Sri Lanka at Edgbaston will complete New Zealand’s preparation for their opener against Australia on the same ground three days later. At first glance there is much work to do after the Black Caps - with six Indian Premier League players making their first appearances were soundly beaten by India in their 50-over warmup at The Oval. Ronchi’s 66 off 63 balls was the headline act of a poor New Zealand show with the bat; 189 all out in 38.4 overs against five quality Indian pacemen and their two gun spinners. With superstar Virat Kohli 52 not out, India racked up 129-3 off 26 overs before the rain to win by 45 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method