Robert Key, the England Lions captain, last night warned Michael Vaughan and his team not to underestimate New Zealand when the first npower Test starts at Lord’s on Thursday after their final warm-up game had petered out into a draw in the Rose Bowl sunshine.

At one stage, it looked as though the New Zealanders, who had been set 368 to win in 75 overs, might be contemplating a Twenty20-style run chase in the final session, but Adil Rashid, the Yorkshire leg spinner, put paid to that with three quick wickets and they called it a day on 201 for four.

Graeme Swann had set up the Lions’ declaration at 360 for eight by hitting 52 off 41 balls, whereupon Aaron Redmond, who will win his first Test cap at Lord’s, again suggested that he can solve New Zealand’s most pressing problem by sharing an opening partnership of 150 with Jamie How. Redmond added 64 to his first-innings 146 before Rashid had him caught at wide mid-off.

Rashid then had How stumped for 74 and trapped Ross Taylor leg-before, and, when Tremlett had James Marshall leg-before, even Brendon McCullum, the star of the Indian Premier League, accepted that 182 off 18 overs was beyond him.

The New Zealanders had still done enough to impress Key, who said: “They’re certainly an improving side. They haven’t got those legends of the game like [Shane] Warne and [Muttiah] Muralitharan, but you cannot underestimate them.”

Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand captain, who is recovering from a split finger, had stitches removed yesterday. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed that he’s going to be OK,” McCullum said. “To have such an experienced player gives us a lot more opportunity of winning the series.”

England Lions

First Innings 280 (L J Wright 120)

Second Innings
M A Carberry c McCullum b Southee108
*R W T Key lbw b Oram30
O A Shah lbw b Martin43
R S Bopara c Redmond b Martin5
† M J Prior lbw b Patel 47
L J Wright lbw b Southee15
A U Rashid c McCullum b Martin29
G P Swann c Martin b Patel52
C T Tremlett not out20

Extras (b 1, lb 4, w 2, nb 4) 11
Total (8 wkts dec, 89.3 overs) 360

Fall of wickets: 1-48, 2-115, 3-151, 4-233, 5-263, 6-282, 7-315, 8-360.

Bowling: Southee 19-6-68-2; Martin 19-3-76-3; Oram 13-5-23-1; Patel 25.3-2-135-2; Marshall 1-0-5-0; Redmond 12-1-48-0.

New Zealanders

First Innings 273 (A J Redmond 146)

Second Innings
J M How st Prior b Rashid74
A J Redmond c Hoggard b Rashid64
J A H Marshall lbw b Tremlett15
L R P L Taylor lbw b Rashid0
*† B B McCullum not out 21
D R Flynn not out6

Extras (b 12, lb 9) 21
Total (4 wkts, 60 overs) 201

Fall of wickets: 1-150, 2-170, 3-170, 4-186.

Bowling: Hoggard 6-2-14-0; Onions 7-1-40-0; Swann 17-3-39-0; Tremlett 9-3-14-1; Wright 5-1-10-0; Rashid 16-0-63-3.

Umpires: M A Gough and J F Steele.

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