Match Preview
New Zealand is going to host England for a two-match Test series starting 16th February.
The first match is going to be played at Bay Oval and it will be a great Test series for sure.
Furthermore, one more point to note is that both of these teams are some of the best Test-playing nations in the world.
Therefore, we will get to see some high-quality cricket from both teams.
Moreover, this series is also sort of a homecoming for England Test head coach, Brendon McCullum.
Under the able captaincy of Ben Stokes, England has won all of their last five Tests whereas New Zealand hasn’t been able to win any.
They have drawn two and lost three Tests and they need to get their records right again.
So, we will see some great action coming from these two sides in just two days’ time.
Match Details
Match: New Zealand vs England, 1st Test
Venue: Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui
Date: 16th February 2023
Time: 6:30 AM IST
Pitch Report
The pitch at Bay Oval is a wonderful one for batters because it’s a very high-scoring one. Bowlers will also have their fair share of success on this pitch and even competition is on the cards. Furthermore, the average first and second-innings scores at this venue have been 370 and 437 which then dip down to 182 and 156 in the last two innings. Moreover, this venue has hosted only 3 Test matches from which 2 have been won chasing.
Full Squads for New Zealand vs England, 1st Test
New Zealand
Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, Kane Williamson, Will Young, Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell, Scott Kuggeleijn, Tom Blundell (wk), Tom Latham (wk), Blair Tickner, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy, Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, Neil Wagner, Tim Southee (c)
England
Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Joe Root, Zak Crawley, Ben Stokes (c), Dan Lawrence, Will Jacks, Ben Foakes (wk), Ollie Pope (wk), Jack Leach, James Anderson, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Olly Stone, Stuart Broad
Probable Playing XI for New Zealand vs England, 1st Test
New Zealand
Tom Latham (wk), Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell, Michael Bracewell, Neil Wagner, Tim Southee (c), Blair Tickner, Matt Henry
England
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Matthew Potts, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Olly Stone
Predicted Winner
With the form England is in at the moment, they are sure to win this game and go 1-0 up.
Also, if they win this Test series, they might have a slight chance of making it to the finals of the World Test Championship as well.
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