New Zealand and England conclude their Test series this week when the final match of the three games takes place in Hamilton from Saturday, or Friday evening for us in the UK, with the tourists looking to complete a series whitewash.
England have won both matches in pretty emphatic fashion and another win here will secure the clean sweep. New Zealand are a proud bunch though and they are not going to roll over and be whitewashed on their own patch.
New Zealand
You would have to say that New Zealand have been caught a little cold by England in this series. Generally New Zealand have a good home record in this format of the game and even though they are a team going into a transitional period, they will have expected to be much more competitive than they have been so far. They have been taken apart in both matches and the very least they need to do here is put up a better showing and really challenge England.
If there has been a positive from their opening two defeats it is that in the main they have bowled well in this series but they just haven’t had an answer to one England batter which will have annoyed them. The negative is their own batting just hasn’t got going at all and that is going to have to change if they are to pick up a consolation win here. They haven’t yet made 350 in the four innings that they have had in the series and that needs to improve.
England
England are a really tough nut to crack these days because they are prepared to take risks which are out of the norm and even though they have been doing this for a couple of years, teams still aren’t finding ways to contain them because it is almost like the scoreboard doesn’t matter. The other issue teams have is England bat so quickly that they put so much time into the game that they are under pressure to put up big scores else they have no chance of winning.
The big surprise here has been how well England have bowled. This is an attack which is transitioning away from their two best seamers of the modern era and are missing a couple of starters even in the rebuild but they haven’t let New Zealand get away from them. That has helped with the batting freedom and when this England side have the game situation to express themselves with the bat, it is very rare that they pass up the opportunity and they have taken full advantage in both matches so far.
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Team News
New Zealand have lost their opener Devon Conway to injury for this final match of the series. Will Young will come in for him. Tim Southee will end a wonderful Test career in this game and will be determined to bowl out with a win.
England have already confirmed their XI as they often do and they have made the one change. That sees Matt Potts coming in for Chris Woakes so Gus Atkinson is expected to bat at number eight in a side loaded with swing bowlers.
Betting
I took Gus Atkinson to cover his performance in the first match of the series and he did that and given that the line has remained relatively favourable I will finish off in the same fashion. His line is 120.5 but the first thing to note is that he is going to bat a notch higher in the batting order so that immediately increases his chances of scoring more points, especially as Matthew Potts, who comes into the side, can hold an end up should they end up batting together.
Atkinson has taken eight wickets in the series so far but there has been a bit of rain around Hamilton in recent times so the pitch might have a bit more in it for longer here which would certainly help the Surrey man. We have already referenced how he is going to bat higher up the order and he already has a knock of 46 to his name in this series and there is the potential for catches as well. He will take the new ball against an opener who hasn’t faced a ball in the series yet which is another boost so I like the over here.
Tips
Back G.Atkinson’s Performance – Over 120.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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