DERBY: New Zealand made a promising start to their tour of England as Dean Brownlie and BJ Watling scored half-centuries in their opening match against Derbyshire on Saturday.

The tourists are warming up for their Test series against England, which starts at Lord's on May 16, and they recovered from a sloppy start to get a useful knock against their county championship opponents.

Both Hamish Rutherford and Peter Fulton went in the first 13 overs, but Brownlie and Watling shared a century stand before the tourists declared on 289 for five, with Mark Footitt taking four for 65 for Derbyshire.

That gave the Black Caps bowlers 12 overs before stumps and Neil Wagner broke through just before the close when he bowled Chesney Hughes for nine to leave Derbyshire on 24 for one.

The New Zealanders left out captain Brendon McCullum and batsman Ross Taylor who had both arrived in the country in the last 24 hours after playing in the Indian Premier League.

<Center><b><i>Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2013</b></i></center>