New Zealand's preparations for the Ind vs NZ World Test Championship (WTC) Final against India starts from today. The BlackCaps are scheduled to play a two-match Test series against hosts England from Wednesday.
Although the England vs New Zealand Test series is not part of the World Test Championship, it is a very important series in terms of the India vs New Zealand WTC Finals. The first match between the two teams is starting from today, which will be played at the iconic Lord's stadium. New Zealand is ranked second in the latest ICC Test team rankings, while the hosts England is placed at third place.
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A day before the much-awaited match, England team management has given a big responsibility to veteran fast bowler Stuart Broad, by appointing him as their new vice-captain. Another veteran, James Anderson was also in the race for vice-captain, but the team has bet on Broad.
In the entire England vs New Zealand Test series, England have decided to rest their experienced players in order to do some experiments. That's why they have selected many young players in the team for this series.
On the other hand, New Zealand have been training on the English soil for the last few weeks and their aim is to adjust to the English conditions. The team's performance in the domestic season has been excellent as they won the two-match Test series against Pakistan easily. Let's have a look at the probable playing XI of both the teams-
England Probable Playing XI: Dominic Sibley, Jack Crowley, James Bracey (wk), Joe Root (c), Ollie Pope, Daniel Lawrence, Ollie Robinson, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Jack Leach, Mark Wood.
New Zealand's Probable Playing XI: Devon Conway, Tom Latham, Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling (wk), Mitchell Santner, Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner.