England 249 (Crawley 94, Johal 3-25) lead The Prime Minister’s XI 136 (Reddy 60, Carse 4-48) for 113 runs
After opting to bowl, England dismissed the Prime Minister’s XI shortly after lunch, with Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson and Carse sharing the wickets. They then took the lead, Crawley providing the momentum in an innings that featured 14 fours and two sixes.
England Test captain Ben Stokes missed the first day of the two-day match, with Ollie Pope leading the team in his absence.
The youthful PM
Snehith Reddy, the 17-year-old New Zealand U19 all-rounder, scored 60 from No. 6, but Carse, one of the five players used, along with Matt Potts and Shoaib Bashir, helped England clear the rest of the order.
Crawley bowled the reply in typically aggressive fashion, adding 90 in 15.1 overs alongside Ollie Pope (42) for the second wicket and 50 in seven overs with Joe Root for the third, before the innings ended in a clatter of wickets.
England are expected to devote most of their 16-man squad’s playing time to the match, which is their only warm-up match ahead of the first Test in Christchurch, which begins on Thursday.
