Stokes happy with workout on tough day

Ben Stokes felt the England bowlers got plenty out of their time in the field despite New Zealand A dominating day one of their warm-up match. In the final match before the Three Lions take on New Zealand in the first Test new week, the hosts declared on 302-6 from 84 overs, with Glenn Phillips scoring a well-made 116. There were also decent contributions from Hamish Rutherford (59) and skipper Tom Blundell who made 60, as the England attack failed to make much of an impact in Whangarei. Jofra Archer took 2-58 while Stokes claimed 2-64 and there was also a wicket each for Stuart Broad and Jack Leach. The tourists lost Rory Burns for 14 before stumps to end on 26-1 and, while the figures do not look great, Stokes believes it was a decent workout. “The wicket has been seriously flat, which was surprising,” he said. “But that’s a great test for us as a bowling group. “It was a great opportunity for us to try a few different things and just try to figure out, if we do get a pitch like this in the Test series, what works well and what doesn’t.” England captain Joe Root went off with an injury but is expected to be fine to lead him men in Tauranga after suffering a dead leg when diving to stop the ball.