Good ‘fight’ ends British sojourn

The New Zealand A team ended a successful tour of Britain in frustrating fashion as Surrey forced a draw.

An unbeaten 104 from Aneesh Kapil and an equally defiant 94 from opener Rory Burns got Surrey through to 364 in their second innings at The Oval in London yesterday. That set New Zealand an unlikely target of 255 for victory in the afternoon.

The loss of early wickets put pressure on New Zealand but they recovered and when stumps arrived they had battled through to 136-6 off 36 overs with BJ Watling unbeaten on 55. Leg-spinner Todd Astle was the mainstay of the New Zealand bowling attack, taking 4-83 to rattle through the Surrey middle order.

On a 13-match tour hit hard by weather, with four games washed out and three decided by the Duckworth Lewis system, New Zealand finished with seven wins, a draw, and one loss to Sri Lanka in a tri-series that included the England Lions and which the Kiwis won.

Coach Bob Carter got worthy performances from all areas of his team at different stages, with plenty of runs flowing from the top order and a solid pace attack revelling in the conditions.

‘‘Today wasn’t the way we wanted to finish the tour but it was pleasing to see us fight all the way to the end and secure the draw,’’ Carter said.

‘‘Overall the performances have been really pleasing and that’s reflected in our results.

‘‘The boys’ attitudes have been brilliant and a number of these players have really put their hand up for higher honours.’’