England, New Zealand win rain-hit World Cup warm-ups

GUWAHATI, India (AP):

Moeen Ali scored 56 runs off 39 balls to rescue England against Bangladesh in their rain-reduced, 37-over Cricket World Cup warm-up yesterday.

Ali smacked six sixes and two fours as England won by four wickets with 77 balls remaining under the DLS method. Ali entered the innings with England on 114 for five, in pursuit of 197. He departed with England on 193.

England finished on 197 for six in 24.1 overs.

Bangladesh chose to bat first and had reached 153 for five in 30 overs when rain stopped play. They went on to score 188 for nine in 37 overs before rain again intervened in Guwahati, with England set a revised DLS target.

For Bangladesh, Mehidy Hasan Miraz scored 74 off 89 balls and helped build the innings from 26 for two in five overs before he was bowled by David Willey.

He put on 52 runs off 62 balls with Tanzid Hasan (45), but Bangladesh lost regular wickets against the English attack.

Pacer Reece Topley took three wickets for 23 runs in five overs, while Willey returned two for 26 in his five, and Adil Rashid picked up two for 27.

Jonny Bairstow scored 34 off 21 balls before regular wickets started to put England in trouble. Ben Stokes did not bat, while Jos Buttler scored 30 off 15. Liam Livingstone was out for seven runs.

England's first warm-up game against India on Saturday was washed out at the same ground.

NEW ZEALAND WIN

Rain also impacted the other warm-up game yesterday in Thiruvananthapuram as New Zealand beat South Africa by seven runs under the DLS method.

Devon Conway's 78 runs and Tom Latham's 52 helped New Zealand reach 321 for six in the usual 50 overs after opting to bat first. In reply, South Africa were 211 for four in 37 overs when the weather intervened and prevented further play.

Black Caps skipper Kane Williamson enjoyed another workout on his way back from injury, as he batted for 51 deliveries. He scored 37 runs with three fours before retiring.

Conway and Williamson shared a stand of 92 runs.

Pacers Marco Jansen, with three for 45, and Lungi Ngidi, with three for 33, did the damage for the Proteas.

For South Africa, Quinton de Kock led the way with 84 runs off 89 balls. Reeza Hendricks was out lbw first ball to Trent Boult. Rassie van der Dussen, with 51, then added 72 runs with de Kock.

New Zealand's spinners Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner applied the brakes with a wicket each, and South Africa fell below the DLS asking rate as the rain came.

Defending champions England and New Zealand now head to Ahmedabad to contest the tournament opener on Thursday in a repeat of the 2019 World Cup final.