Malik enjoyed himself with the bat before the rain struck New Road

A thrilling innings by 21-year-old Nadeem Malik kept New Zealand's bowlers at bay on the second day of the tour match at New Road, Worcester.

And things were made no better for Stephen Fleming's rain-sodden troops when bad weather ruled out any play between lunch and stumps on Saturday.

Malik clubbed 39 not out off just 36 balls at number 10, the best first-class score of his career.

It allowed Worcestershire to declare on a respectable score of 270-9.

Malik's flurry of boundaries had followed a slump as Worcestershire tumbled from an overnight 163-3 to 226-9.

Shane Bond and Daryl Tuffey each took a brace of wickets in the morning, with Tuffey ending the innings of top-scorer Ben Smith for 92.

Smith was quietly adding to his overnight 72 while Bond, one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket, was busy ruffling a few feathers.

Bond proved a real handful for the Worcestershire batsmen

It was an important workout for a man seeking to end a long break away from the international game with injuries.

The light was poor and Worcestershire's batsmen clearly had difficulty in reading Bond's pace.

Kadeer Ali took hasty evasive action when fending a lifter to Michael Papps at square leg, and South African Andrew Hall offered no shot to a delivery that took out his off stump.

An unpleasant phase for the county side became equally hazardous against Tuffey, who finally nailed Smith, courtesy of a smart catch at first slip by Stephen Fleming.

The same bowler struck again when James Pipe got out to a top-edged hook.

Steve Rhodes and Matt Mason then both departed shortly after reaching double figures, but Malik added 44 for the unbroken last wicket with Mark Harrity.

When the declaration came, Tuffey had the best overall bowling figures, with 4-57.

Worcestershire: S D Peters, S C Moore, G A Hick, A J Hall, B F Smith (Capt), Kadeer Ali, D J Pipe (Wkt), S J Rhodes, M S Mason, M N Malik, M A Harrity.