Key and Carberry carve open New Zealand

Kent 296 for 4 (Key 114, Carberry 72*, Jones 43*) trail New Zealanders 409 (Cairns 54, Patel 5-56) by 113 runs
Scorecard

Robert Key reminded the England selectors of his worth by scoring 114 against the New Zealanders on the second day of the tour match at Canterbury. After Chris Cairns had cracked a quickfire 54 runs from 38 balls to help take New Zealand to 409 all out, Key led Kent's reply, before Michael Carberry and Geraint Jones added an unbroken stand of 111 as Kent closed on 296 for 4.

Key, who has played eight Tests, the last of which was against Zimbabwe last June, hit 20 boundaries in all during his 17th first-class century. He put on handy partnerships with Matthew Walker and Carberry before he was caught behind by Brendon McCullum, the wicketkeeper, in the final session of the day (185 for 4).

While Key will be hoping this innings will put him back in the selectors' notebooks, one player who will be playing in next week's Test, Jones, was under pressure to perform. After a disappointing run of scores with the bat since he returned from the Caribbean, Jones got back in the groove with an unbeaten 43, featuring five fours and two sixes as the New Zealand attack had an early look of what he is capable of. Jones and Carberry accelerated the innings towards the close, with Carberry not out on 72.

One former England player who definitely wont be playing at Lord's is Min Patel, the left-arm spinner, but he showed he can still perform a trick or two, taking 5 for 56, including that of the big-hitting Cairns. Patel, who played two Tests against India in 1996, didn't play a game last season, but he picked up Scott Styris early on, and spun out the lower order to get Kent back in the game.