New Zealand announced Test team for two-match Test Series against England and it looks killer!
New Zealand has announced their Test
Team for the upcoming two-match Test Series against England. The announcement
has come only a few days before the first game, which is all set to commence at
Mount Maunganui.
Both England and New Zealand have
met only once in the Test Series as part of the World Test Championship 2019-2021
calendar. Both teams are getting into the upcoming Test Series after playing
50-overs cricket.
England played a Test in the Ashes
and drew 2-2 against arch-rivals Australia. On the other hand, New Zealand had
also drawn against Sri Lanka 1-1 on tour to the Island Nation, and it was their
last Test game before the Eng vs NZ Series.
New Zealand is placed second in the
World Test Championship points table. They have won and lost one game each.
With 60 points, they have 4 more than England, who is at the 5th
place. England has managed two wins, two losses and one draw.
New
Zealand boasts of sound openers
The combination of Tom Latham and
Jeet Raval have been pleasantly successful for New Zealand over the years and
will again be doing the opening honours for the country. The icing on the cake
is that Latham has been keeping in great knick for long now. He made a stunning
double century against Sri Lanka and even ended up as the highest run getter
for the team on tour in 2019. His 229 runs from 3 matches speak volumes of the
sparks in the Series that’s lined up next.
Kane
Williamson is returning to the team
Another big boost for New Zealand is
that Kane Williamson has regained fitness and will be back in the team in his
Eng Vs NZ Test Series. The Captain had been in the fine touch as he was the
highest run-scorer for the Black Caps against Pakistan in three-match Test Series
in UAE.
News that should also give the New
Zealand team a lot of confidence is their wicket keeper’s growth as a Test
batsman. We are talking about the very talented BJ Watling. He kept scoring big,
and that earned him the reputation of being the second-highest scorer for the
team on Sri Lankan tour with 183 runs in 3 games. His ability to score when the
team needed most (at crunch situations) has given him immense praise. It was
his endurance that saw New Zealand leveling the Series.
The
pace trio is expected to fire all around
The lethal pace trio of Trent Boult,
Neil Wagner and Tim Southee has returned with bountiful of scalps in Test
cricket recently. Southee had to be mentioned out being most successful as he
claimed 13 wickets at an average of 16 and was just unplayable. The space battery
of these bowlers compliments themselves with diverse variety. Southee is a
medium pacer, Boult bowls with extra pace while Wagner has his own way of
troubling all.
The services of Colin de Grandhomme
as a gentle swinger are also availed of by the team to pick wickets regularly.
Matt
Henry and Lockie Ferguson are ready to rock
Lockie Ferguson has always been
knocking on the Test team door for a while and has now been rewarded with a
place. Matt Henry is another star to watch out for. Ferguson has picked up 153
wickets at an average of 24.30 from 42 first-class games. His raw pace is sure
to trouble batsman as well as provide another range to the bowling attack.
Handy
spinners are ready to impress
The spin duo of William Somerville
and Jeetan Patel had cast a spell for New Zealand in the Test Series against
Pakistan in UAE. Still, both have not been able to get a place in the team
owing to intense competition in the spin department in the team.
Todd Astle has been selected to play
the second stint to the regular choice Mitchell Santner. Even though Santner
has not been very successful with the bat, his contribution with the bat can’t
be ignored either. You can use this data to play fantasy cricket on Dream11.
The
Black Caps looks super amazing on paper
With Kane Williamson returning to
the fold and openers providing sustainability, along with the pace trio and
spin attack also looking to fire, the team looks balanced. Yes, that’s what the
New Zealand team looks at least on the paper. But, how they play on the D-day
will what the cricket fans and experts want to see.
The forthcoming NZ Vs Eng Series
should be a cracker of sorts provided England can match the heroics of its
opponent, which looks ready to fire on paper currently.
Here
is what the NZ Test team for England Series looks like
Kane Williamson (c), Todd Astle, Tom Blundell, Trent Boult,
Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls,
Jeet Raval, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner and BJ
Watling (WK).
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