New Zealand won the toss and decided to bowl against England
New Zealand won the toss and chose to bowl first in the second ODI against England in Hamilton. With overcast skies – rain delayed the toss by 22 minutes – Mitchell Santner had no qualms about putting England in to bat first.
“It feels like there is going to be a bit in it to start with,” said Santner, clearly looking to repeat the damage New Zealand quicks inflicted on their opponents’ top order in the first ODI at Mount Maunganui. Reduced to 10 for 4 early in the sixth over, England were eventually skittled for 223 before New Zealand punched their ticket to take a 1-0 lead in this three-match series.
Both sides make one change to their XIs. Jofra Archer returns for his first ODI against New Zealand since the 2019 World Cup final, replacing left-arm quick Luke Wood. The side quest nature of this series makes Archer’s appearance that little bit more tantalising. Likewise, the need for a better showing with the bat with this being the penultimate competitive outing for several Ashes runners and riders ahead of the first Test in Perth, which begins in just over three weeks.Seamer Blair Tickner makes his return for New Zealand after a two-year absence, replacing Matt Henry, who has been ruled out with a left calf strain. Henry was unable to train on Tuesday, with a statement from NZC confirming his availability for the third and final match of the series, on Saturday in Wellington, is also uncertain. Tickner had originally been drafted into the set-up as a replacement for Kyle Jamieson.
Zakary Foulkes was New Zealand’s standout performer in the opening match with 4 for 41, devastating with the new ball to pick off three of England’s top four. His dismissal of Sam Curran, the last of his four, had the visitors 56 for 6 midway through the 12th over.
But for Harry Brook’s remarkable 135 and a valiant 46 from Jamie Overton, England would have fallen way short of a respectable total. Nevertheless, New Zealand were still able to knock off a target of 224 with 80 balls to spare. Daryl Mitchell (78*) and Michael Bracewell (51) finished the job that was kicked off spectacularly by the seamers.
New Zealand boast an impressive 50-over record at this ground, winning the last 10 completed matches, which includes besting Eoin Morgan’s England side in 2018. Both victories at the start of this year saw the hosts defend sub-300 totals (255 for 9 against Sri Lanka https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/new-zealand-vs-sri-lanka-2024-25-1443537/new-zealand-vs-sri-lanka-2nd-odi-1443547/full-scorecard, and 292 for 8 against Pakistan https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/new-zealand-vs-pakistan-2024-25-1443540/new-zealand-vs-pakistan-2nd-odi-1443555/full-scorecard) with ease.
New Zealand: 1 Will Young, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Rachin Ravindra, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Tom Latham (wk), 7 Michael Bracewell, 8 Mitchell Santner (capt), 9 Zak Foulkes, 10 Jacob Duffy, 11 Blair Tickner
England: 1 Jamie Smith, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Joe Root, 4 Jacob Bethell, 5 Harry Brook (capt), 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Sam Curran, 8 Jamie Overton, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Luke Wood.
