Kenya suffer seven-wicket Somerset setback

Somerset reached the target in the 46th over after Piran Holloway smashed an unbeaten 96.

Rejected England seamer Andrew Caddick picked up three wickets for 33, but Somerset helped Kenya’s cause by sending down 23 wides and 35 extras in all, the third highest contribution to the total.

Kenya, one of three non-Test-playing teams in the 12-nation World Cup, play two more warm-up games before starting their campaign against Zimbabwe on May 15.

New Zealand cruise

SOUTHAMPTON: New Zealand cruised to victory in their first warm-up match, beating Hampshire by eight wickets in a rain-affected encounter.

All-rounder Chris Cairns took two for 22 off his six overs as Hampshire wererestricted to 135 for six off their allotted 39 overs.

New Zealand, given a revised target of 168 under the Duckworth-Lewis scoring system, won with five overs to spare after Nathan Astle (43) put together an opening stand of 102 with Matthew Horne. Skipper Stephen Fleming (43 not out) helped wrap up the win in the 34th over.

Ijaz on fire

DERBY: Ijaz Ahmed blasted a World Cup warning as his 74 led Pakistan to 272 for eight from 50 overs against Derbyshire today.

Salim Malik made 44 in a fourth-wicket stand of 113 with Ijaz, while Saeed Anwar and Abdul Razzaq cracked 34 apiece.

It was the highest total in two days of practice matches by World Cup teams.

Mahmud slams ton

CHELMSFORD: Khaled Mahmud hammered an unbeaten century as Bangladesh piled up 263 for seven in their match against Essex.

Skipper Aminul Islam sparked a recovery with 43. Former captain Akram Khan maintained the initiative with 58 and Mahmud went on to reach 108 off 94 balls. It was the first century in two days ofpractice matches by World Cup teams.

Aussies suffer

CARDIFF: Australians had their preparations marred by bad weather as their match against Glamorgan was washed out.

Seamers Damien Fleming and Adam Dale had reduced Glamorgan to 21 for two in 10 overs before heavy rain drove the players off.

Windies stumble

BRISTOL: West Indies, without Brian Lara and Courtney Walsh, struggled to 58 for three against Gloucestershire before their opening warm-up match was rained off.

They had reached 58 for three off 16.3 overs when the game was abandoned. Lara stood down to rest a recent wrist injury while Walsh, who split from Gloucestershire in acrimony last season after playing with them for 14 years, was reportedly left out because of a knee problem.

Gloucestershire seamer Mike Smith took one wicket for three runs in his opening five-over spell.

BRIEF SCORES

At Hove: Sussex vs South Africa. Match abandoned.

At Worcester: Worcestershire 45-1 in 10 overs vs Zimbabwe.Rain stopped play, match abandoned.

At Leicester: India 219-7 innings closed (R Dravid 60, A Jadeja 54 not out) vs Leicestershire, match abandoned.

At Northampton: Northamptonshire 199 in 49.4 overs (M Loye 73) vs Sri Lanka, match abandoned.

At Taunton: Somerset beat Kenya by seven wickets. Kenya 224-8 innings closed (R Shah 73). Somerset 227-3 in 45.2 overs (P Holloway 96 not out, K Parsons 68 not out).

At Canterbury: England beat Kent on a faster scoring rate in a rain-restricted match. England 197-7 in 38 overs innings closed (G Thorpe 55, N Fairbrother 54 not out). Kent 163 all out in 36 overs (A Symonds 57; I Austin 4-39).