Desperate England drop Moeen, Woakes

At their wits end, England have taken a stern decision of dropping senior players Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes in order to save the series and their pride ahead of the second and final Test match against New Zealand in Christchurch.

Desperate situations call for desperate measures and there are few sides more desperate than England at the moment (if we take Australia out of the situation that is). In search of a win to bring an end to what has been a dismal past few months in the longest format, England have decided to drop all-rounders Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes for the second and final Test match against New Zealand in Christchurch.

Moeen has been kept out of the side for the first time since making his debut in 2014 while Woakes has got the axe following his not so impressive show in the last few Test matches, particularly in the last Test match at Auckland, where he went wicket-less.

Left-arm spinner Jack Leach is all set to make his Test debut as there is little chance of England going in with an all-seam attack even though Christchurch is known to assist the seamers.

However, England’s problems seem to be more with their batting than their bowling department. Stunningly though, despite being bowled out for 58 in the first innings of the last Test, there is no change in the batting department.

New Zealand on the other hand would look to cap off their home season with a series-win over England and considering the form of their premiere pacers Trent Boult and Tim Southee, a Kiwi win looks more likely than an English comeback.

New Zealand (likely XI): Jeet Raval, Tom Latham, Kane Williamson (cap), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling (wk), Colin de Grandhomme, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Trent Boult

England (likely XI): Alastair Cook, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Joe Root, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Craig Overton/Jack Leach, Mark Wood, Stuart Broad, James Anderson