After a brilliant T20 series a week or so ago, England begin their new Test match era on Wednesday night when they go up against New Zealand in the first of two Test matches to conclude their tour of the picturesque part of the world.
New Zealand certainly won’t be short of motivation having lost a World Cup and a T20 series both in a Super Over across the last four months. They will want to make double sure that they get their own back in this series.
New Zealand
If there is a positive for New Zealand heading into this series then it comes in the form of their home dominance in Test match cricket. They must be getting sick to death of England by now so if there is some pent up frustration in their bowling attack in particular the Kiwis will be out to have some fun. They will know the last time the tourists were on their shores in Test cricket they were rolled for 50 odd and that doubt will be within their opponents here.
New Zealand enter this series having won 10 of their last 12 on home soil so they are a pretty formidable side and that is because they don’t do a lot wrong. All their batsmen have a solid technique and rarely give anything away and they have an attack which uses the new ball well and then when things go a little quiet they have difference makers both in the seam department and spin. It all combines for a very good unit.
England
All eyes will be on England here to see how they react to failing to win back The Ashes. The scoresheet says they drew that series but they were outplayed in it, and their record overseas is not the best. New coach Chris Silverwood has hinted that he wants his side to use their techniques and show some proper Test match batting but whether they have the ability to do that remains to be seen. The output will be interesting as the talent is there.
The big thing for England in this match is whether they can take 20 wickets without Jimmy Anderson. They have a lot more variation in their bowling attack these days which is useful but they still carry a spinner who isn’t going to worry too many sides around the world. The other thing to watch out for is whether the English top order can occupy the crease, see off the new ball and score runs. The longer The Ashes went on the more they started to look capable of that but this is a tough test.
Team News
New Zealand have confirmed that Lockie Ferguson has been released from the squad which means their seam attack will be Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner. Kane Williamson returns having sat out the T20 series.
England have also named their side and there is no place in it for Chris Woakes. Sam Curran is the third seamer to Stuart Broad and Jofra Archer. Dominic Sibley will make his debut alongside Rory Burns at the top of the order with Joe Denly in at three.
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Bay Oval
The Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui will stage its first Test in this match. It has regularly hosted white ball international cricket and has generally delivered high scoring matches on what has often been a fantastic batting track. The hope is that there is a bit of grass in the pitch to keep the bowlers interested but if there isn’t then the batsmen should enjoy themselves throughout the five days.
There has been one match here in the Plunket Shield this season, which delivered a result in a relatively low scoring game. You would think the better time to bat would be in innings two and three, something which often tends to be the case in series in New Zealand so the toss could be important here.
Betting
I’m incredibly surprised that New Zealand are not the odds on favourites for this match. They are hugely strong at home and England are at best flaky away from home. You get the feeling that New Zealand are pumped up to get some of their own back in this match and being honest they have the better side for this format. England have a lot of talent but what will be interesting to see is if they can combat this new ball attack and if things do start going wrong, whether they have the fight and the nous to turn it around. There are too many question marks will to be answered by England whereas we know what we’ll get with New Zealand. They get my money as a result.
Although I don’t see England winning this match I do still think that the performance line of Jofra Archer is on the low side at 100.5. The quickest way for him to get there is via taking five wickets but I think he is enough of a batsman that he can make up 21 runs over the two innings so in reality I think he will only need four wickets. This is Neil Wagner’s home ground and in the one match played here he took eight wickets and he and Archer are a similar style of bowler. Archer puts fear into batsmen so I think he can take four wickets and get the runs needed to cover this line.
I expect the England top order to struggle a little against the quality of this New Zealand bowling attack. I’m not necessarily expecting them to roll in a heap like the last time they were in this part of the world but I do expect scoring to come easier the later in the innings batsmen are in. With that in mind, the 9/1 on Ollie Pope to top score for England looks big to me. He is a seriously good batsman who has already made a decent score on this tour and has the technique to cover what comes at him. The longer he is in the quicker he’ll score and while some may be floundering around him, the Surrey man should thrive. I think he’s overpriced batting at five or six.
Tips
WON – Back New Zealand to beat England for a 4/10 stake at 2.15 with 888sport
Back them here:
Back J.Archer’s Performance – Over 100.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Back O.Pope Top England 1st Inns Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 10.00 with Betfair
Back him here:
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