Shah falls short of century

The Middlesex batsman struggled to make an impact during the one-day series as England slipped to a 3-1 defeat against New Zealand and entered today's two-day match - one of two warm-up games before next week's opening Test in Hamilton - knowing he needed runs to stand any chance of a Test recall.

But while Andrew Strauss, his main rival for the remaining spot in England's top order, struggled and scored only four Shah was given two reprieves on his way to scoring 96 as the tourists reached 315 for five by late afternoon after being put into bat.

Shah's first escape came as he reached 28 shortly after lunch when he appeared to inside edge left-arm seamer Craig Smith behind and was superbly caught by wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins. But the appeal was rejected and Shah progressed to 38 before being given another reprieve when he chipped a catch straight to Sam Wells at mid-on after mis-timing a drive against Mark Gillespie only for the straightforward catch to be spilled.

He recovered from those two escapes, however, to hit 14 fours and a six before top-edging a sweep facing off-spinner Will Somerville and was superbly caught at short fine leg.

Alastair Cook had earlier impressed during an opening session dominated by England against opposition which included five members of New Zealand's last Test side. Cook hit 85 off 81 balls, including 16 boundaries, which boosted England's spirits leading into the opening Test and his display was in stark contrast to Strauss.

Dropped after failing to score a century in his previous 25 Test innings, Strauss fell in the ninth over when he played a defensive shot against seamer Mark Gillespie and, in attempting to prevent the ball from rolling back onto the stumps, hit his wicket.

Captain Michael Vaughan contributed a fluent 27, which included three boundaries in one over from seamer Iain O'Brien, to a 108-run stand with Cook which provided England with hope for the Test series ahead. But Vaughan pushed too hard at a full-length delivery from left-arm seamer Craig Smith and edged behind as he attempted to match the aggression shown by Cook.

Just as Cook seemed set for a century, however, he drove at a delivery from seamer Sam Wells who claimed the smart return catch to end his brilliant innings. Ian Bell also contributed a useful 59 before retiring to allow wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose his first innings of the tour, but he failed to make the most of his chance and pulled to mid-wicket for two to give Somerville his second wicket.