New Zealand won the toss and chose to bowl first vs England
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner won the toss and asked England to bat first in the second T20I at Hagley Oval.
Only 20 overs were possible in Saturday’s opener of this three-match series, with England mustering 153 for 6 before rain intervened to washout the second innings. As such, both sides have opted for the same XIs, featuring two spinners apiece as they continue to build towards next year’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.
“We’ll see if there’s anything there again at the start,” said Santner, after his team reduced England to 64 for 3 after eight overs two days ago. “If not, it might be more of a challenge.”
England’s captain Harry Brook had similar thoughts on sending their opponents in, but was phlegmatic about setting a target: “We didn’t really know what we wanted to do. We were probably going to have a bowl but we’re happy to have a bat. We’ve got such a strong batting line-up we can keep going. I’m always positive. Looking to change things up and make things as hard as we can.”
That means Sam Curran has an opportunity to build on his unbeaten 49 from the first T20I. The Surrey allrounder, profiting from a couple of dropped catches, held up the respectability of the innings with his 35-ball effort. Brook (20) and Jos Buttler (29) were the only other batters to make it into the twenties.
Monday’s forecast does contain some rain but there is uncertainty as to when or if it might hit. A strong evening breeze in Christchurch will also require some negotiation. “With the wind, it might be a bit of mix and matching,” said Santner. “One end might be a bit of a challenge and the other end may be a lot easier.”
New Zealand: 1 Tim Seifert (wk), 2 Rachin Ravindra, 3 Tim Robinson, 4 Mark Chapman, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Michael Bracewell, 7 James Neesham, 8 Mitchell Santner (capt), 9 Kyle Jamieson, 10 Matt Henry, 11 Jacob Duffy.
England: 1 Phil Salt, 2 Jos Buttler (wk), 3 Jacob Bethell, 4 Harry Brook (capt), 5 Tom Banton, 6 Sam Curran, 7 Jordan Cox, 8 Brydon Carse, 9 Liam Dawson, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Luke Wood.
