New Zealand vs England Preview: Team News & Prediction | 2nd Test
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As they did in Pakistan, England claimed victory in the first Test of this three-match series and now the pressure is on New Zealand to respond, knowing that the tourists have recent history of blowing a series lead.
Date/Time: Thursday December 5th 2024: USA PT – 2:00pm / USA ET – 5:00pm / UK – 10:00pm / Friday December 6th 2024: NZ – 10:00am
Venue: Cello Basin Reserve, Wellington, New Zealand
Weather: Aside from Day 3, which is expected to be disrupted by rain and strong winds, the rest of the scheduled days should be dry and full of sunshine.
How To Watch On TV: UK – TNT Sports / US – Willow TV
How To Watch Online: UK – discovery+ / US – Willow TV
New Zealand Form: Sloppy Black Caps miss their chance
The most frustrating aspect about New Zealand’s defeat in the first Test was it being all of their own undoing. They throw wickets away with the bat and dropped an unprecedented eight catches across England’s first innings, which ultimately allowed Ben Stokes’ side to accumulate a score that left the Black Caps in too big of a hole to get out of. It was a thoroughly underwhelming way to end a three-Test win streak accumulated in India.
LAST FIVE: LWWWL
England Form: Tourists punish New Zealand mistakes
England took full advantage of the chances afforded to them by the hosts, recording an eight-wicket victory in Christchurch. Dismissing their opponents for 348 in the first innings on an excellent pitch for batting was the first step following some poor shot selections from the New Zealand batters. Then the likes of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes cashed in after being afforded lifelines, the former dropped five times on his way to 179 as England racked up 499 in their first innings. That gave them control of the Test, which they went on to win.
LAST FIVE: WLLWL
New Zealand Betting Analysis
So often at home, Kane Williamson proves to be New Zealand’s reliable run machine and it was he who registered 154 runs across the first Test with scores of 93 and 61 respectively. Although Williamson didn’t go on to turn those into big hundreds, bettors know that Williamson offers excellent value when it comes to scoring runs in home Test matches. With that in mind, back the 34-year-old to accumulate 100+ runs over the course of this second Test.
England Betting Analysis
The first Test between these two nations arguably cemented Brydon Carse’s position within England’s red ball bowling attack. The Durham’s pacer’s height and extra pace was well-suited to the bouncy New Zealand conditions and a brilliant individual performance saw him come away with a ten-wicket haul. Figures of 4/64 in the first innings were followed by 6/42 in the third dig, as the Black Caps batters had no answer to Carse’s bowling. No doubt full of confidence and likely to continue putting the ball in the right players, backing Carse to gain over 4.5 scalps this time around has to be favoured.
New Zealand vs England Expert Prediction
Despite falling behind, it would be foolish to write off New Zealand when taking into account their home record. Had they made smarter decisions with the bat in their first innings and most importantly, taken all their catches then the first Test could easily have had a very different outcome. That makes this next game difficult to predict as an improved showing from New Zealand is surely on the cards.
What cannot be denied however, is the form of Harry Brook. Everything the England batter touches seems to be turning to gold at the moment and when you’re in the form that Brook is, things tend to go your way, as we saw with all those dropped chances in Christchurch. Having piled up 544 runs across his last six Test knocks, back Brook to maintain his recent form with another top innings score for his country.
New Zealand vs England Tip: Top 1st Innings Batter - Harry Brook
