SOUTHAMPTON (England), May 12: New Zealand were forced to settle for a draw against the English Lions at the Rose Bowl on Sunday as their winning momentum ground to a halt ahead of the first Test against England.

Having seen off Essex convincingly last week, the tourists were hopeful of beating the Lions to boost their preparations prior for the Lord’s Test on Thursday.

But after being set a challenging victory target of 368 off a minimum of 75 overs, New Zealand never really threatened to reach it and finished the final day on 201 for four.

The Lions had begun the final day 282 ahead on 275 for five hoping to declare on a challenging total.

They achieved their objective thanks to the aggressive strokeplay of off-spinner Graeme Swann, who hit a quickfire half-century to allow the declaration nearly an hour before lunch.

Needing a solid start if they were to chase down their target, New Zealand were provided with the platform with Jamie How and Aaron Redmond sharing a 150-run opening stand.

But the loss of four wickets in 13 overs effectively ended the tourists’ hopes of victory with leg-spinner Rashid enhancing his flourishing reputation by dismissing both openers.

Redmond, who hit a brilliant first innings century to ensure his Test debut at Lord’s, attempted to accelerate towards the victory target after tea and mistimed an attempted drive straight to mid-on for a superb 64.

How followed just six overs later when he advanced down the pitch to Rashid and was stumped by Matt Prior to effectively end New Zealand’s challenge.

Rashid claimed his third wicket when he earned an lbw decision against Ross Taylor and James Marshall fell in similar circumstances when he was beaten for pace by Chris Tremlett.

Even with hard-hitting Brendon McCullum at the crease, who signalled his intentions by hitting Rashid for a straight six, New Zealand accepted victory was unlikely and accepted the draw with an hour’s play remaining.

Scoreboard

ENGLAND LIONS (1st Innings) 280 (L.J. Wright 120).

NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings) 273 (A.J. Redmond 146, B.B. McCullum 47).

ENGLAND LIONS (2nd Innings):

M.A. Carberry c McCullum b Southee 108

R.W.T. Key lbw b Oram 30

O.A. Shah lbw b Martin 43

R.S. Bopara c Redmond b Martin 5

M.J. Prior lbw b Patel 47

L.J. Wright lbw b Southee 15

A.U. Rashid c McCullum b Martin 29

G.P. Swann c Martin b Patel 52

C.T. Tremlett not out 20

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-4, W-2, NB-4) 11

TOTAL (for eight decl, 89.3 overs) 360

FALL OF WKTS: 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 (4nb, 1w); Oram 13-5-23-1; Patel 25.3-2-135-2; Marshall 1-0-5-0; Redmond 12-1-48-0 (1w).

NEW ZEALAND (2nd Innings):

J.M. How st Prior b Rashid 74

A.J. Redmond c Hoggard b Rashid 64

J.A.H. Marshall lbw b Tremlett 15

L.R.P.L. lbw b Rashid 0

B.B. McCullum not out 21

D.R. Flynn not out 6

EXTRAS (B-12, LB-9) 21

TOTAL (for four wkts, 60 overs) 201

FALL OF WKTS: 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.

—Agencies