Cricket

New Zealand vs England T20 Series Predictions (2025)

1 day ago

| BY Sam Cox

T20 cricket fans will be looking forward to the three-match series between England and New Zealand, with the opener taking place this weekend.

England and New Zealand meet for a T20I series this month. Kane Williamson is unavailable for the hosts, as is Ben Sears through a hamstring injury. Skipper Mitchell Santner and Rachin Ravindra are available for the hosts.

With the Ashes looming, England have rested Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, and Jamie Smith. Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Jacob Bethell, and Zak Crawley are the only players included in the Test squad who are playing in this series.

New Zealand lost two matches to Australia in their recent T20 series, with the other fixture washed out. They did, however, win all five matches in their tri-series with South Africa and Zimbabwe.

England drew a three-match series with South Africa with one win apiece before winning the two completed matches against Ireland in September.

Only six points separate these two teams in the T20I world rankings – the cricket betting markets make England slight favourites, despite their patchy record in white-ball cricket over the last couple of years.

Changing England

No Smith, Archer, or Duckett means the introduction of some new – albeit familiar – faces to Brook’s England. Jordan Cox is in line for an opportunity in the middle order after a scintillating summer, and Sam Curran is trying to nail down a place in the white ball set up after falling from relevance in the last couple of years.

Zak Crawley had a mixed summer. Despite his booming drives and attacking instincts, he’s never been first-choice for England in shorter formats. He should get an opportunity in the top three in this series as England hope he finds some form before the Ashes.

The fast-bowling attack is unconvincing in Archer’s absence. England will need to be careful with Carse’s workload, while Jamie Overton and Luke Wood have been hit-and-miss at the international level. Sonny Baker should be over the nerves that hampered his England appearances over the summer.

The tourists are going to have at least one match where their batting goes nuclear and wins them a match. They might find themselves chasing some big totals if they bat second.