Series: England tour of New Zealand, 2019
Venue: Hagley Oval,Christchurch
Date & Time: Nov 01, 06:00 AM LOCAL
New Zealand vs England, 1st T20I Live Match Today ENG vs NZ 2019
The five game T20I series, beginning in Christchurch on Friday, is the start of the run-in to that tournament for both teams, a chance to focus on the shortest format now that the 50-over World Cup out of the way. New Zealand have 26 T20I games remaining before the T20 World Cup gets underway in Australia next year while England have just 17 matches between now and then. Enough time to get things in gear but not so much that any moment can be wasted. This series is an important starting point in preparations for both squads.
It is the same starting point maybe but the approaches being taken are rather different. While England have opted to rest a host of all-format players after a hectic summer, New Zealand have decided to begin their home summer flat out and with a first choice squad. Only captain Kane Williamson, who has a hip problem, and Trent Boult, who is out of the first three matches to prepare for the Test series which follows, are missing from their first choice squad. Otherwise, New Zealand, who will be captained by Tim Southee, are at full strength and hoping to make it a fourth T20 series victory on the bounce.
England, by contrast, will have a fresh feel about them, whichever combination they select for the opening game. Only captain Eoin Morgan, spinner Adil Rashid and opener Jonny Bairstow are guaranteed starters in the T20 side, opening the door for the likes of Somerset's young batsman Tom Banton, Lancashire leggie Matt Parkinson and Worcestershire seamer Pat Brown to stake a claim. There also others, such as Dawid Malan, Sam Billings and James Vince, who have tasted international cricket but are yet to nail a permanent spot in this format. It is an exciting England squad for sure but also an experimental one.
How quickly the tourists can find their international sea legs will go a long way to deciding how they fare in the series. Morgan's men won one and lost one of their two warm-up matches with vice-captain Billings admitting after the defeat in the second game that the squad was still a bit rusty. That has been most evident in a number of dropped catches across the two games. Given New Zealand's squad is experienced and proven, they rightly start as favourites despite being ranked sixth in the world IT20 rankings compared to England's second.
Perhaps the most interesting match up will be the home side's twin spin attack against England's untried middle order. Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner are both ranked in the top ten bowlers in the T20I world rankings and complement each other nicely. Sodhi is more aggressive, searching for wickets, while Santner is canny and defensive. It is a potent mix. England's middle order has struggled in T20 cricket generally, with the search for a finisher ongoing, and the likes of Joe Denly and Billings, at numbers five and six, will have a job on to assert themselves against the slower bowlers.
Teams:
New Zealand Squad: Colin Munro, Martin Guptill, Tim Seifert(w), Ross Taylor, Colin de Grandhomme, James Neesham, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee(c), Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Scott Kuggeleijn, Blair Tickner
England Squad: Jonny Bairstow(w), Tom Banton, Dawid Malan, James Vince, Eoin Morgan(c), Sam Billings, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Adil Rashid, Chris Jordan, Matthew Parkinson, Lewis Gregory, Joe Denly, Saqib Mahmood, Patrick Brown
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