Worcestershire v New Zealand: Black Caps breeze to victory in New Road warm-up

New Zealand's visit to Worcester attracted a sell-out all-ticket 4,500 crowd

New Zealand warmed up for their forthcoming T20 series with England as they beat the rain to see off Worcestershire by seven wickets at a sold-out New Road.

Fielding a team containing six of their T20 series squad, the Black Caps, playing in their first white-ball game in England since the 2019 World Cup final, bowled out the Pears for 124 in 19 overs.

New Zealand reached 126-3 with eight overs to spare, Glenn Phillips smashing the match-winning six and four.

Phillips finished unbeaten on 32 off 15 balls, to finish things off after a productive opening stand of 58 in 26 deliveries from Chad Bowes (35) and Tim Seifert (30).

That came after the Black Caps had earlier bowled out the hosts cheaply, thanks to three wickets each for three of their attack.

Rachin Ravindra (3-15) had been a previous thorn in Worcestershire's side when he hit a double century against the Pears last season.

And Kyle Jamieson (3-28) and skipper Lockie Ferguson (3-11) will be among the six in this squad who will be in contention for the opening T20 international at Chester-le-Street on Wednesday.

Before that New Zealand face another warm-up friendly against Gloucestershire at Bristol on Sunday.

Worcestershire rested several players with one eye on the One-Day Cup quarter-final with Hampshire at Southampton, which had to be moved to Sunday because of the fixture clash with this game.

But, while Academy player Harry Darley had a debut to remember, taking two of the wickets to fall, the main home plaudits went to Olly Cox in his first T20 game, hitting a six and 11 fours as part of a 31-ball half century before finally being out for 63, more than half his side's score.

Worcestershire head coach Alan Richardson told BBC Sport:

"It would have been nice to put in a slightly better performance. The boys will be disappointed to have scored just over 120.

"A couple of stand-outs. Olly Cox played fantastically well, struck the ball as well as we know he can do so that was fantastic for him and to get that experience.

"And Harry Darley acquitted himself really well. It was obviously going to be difficult to defend that score, so for him to get a couple of overs in, and pick up as couple of wickets was good.

"But it was a fantastic opportunity for our guys to pit their wits against some very good cricketers. And we should be full of confidence heading into the One-Day Cup quarter-final.

New Zealand all-rounder Kyle Jamieson told BBC Sport:

"We haven't played a lot of cricket over however many months so it was just good to get out there. And it's always great to get back to England. It was a great atmosphere. The crowd always love their cricket over here.

"Olly Cox played really well for Worcestershire over that first six or seven overs. He played some great shots. Lovely to see someone come in and play like that in their first game.

"The way England are going about their cricket right now is very exciting. It has brought attention on the game. To watch what England have done in Test cricket over the last 18 months has been pretty impressive. It's results orientated cricket.

"It's an exciting time for English cricket right now and great for the game. And it's great to be here to be part of the upcoming series. T20 is just Bazball right from the start really."