England vs New Zealand T20 Series Preview

England and New Zealand are set to clash in a four-match T20 series over the next week, with the first leg starting on Wednesday under the evening sun in Durham.  

Buttler’s boys to lay down marker 

Following the conclusion of the recent Ashes series in late July, there has been an aroma of brilliance around English cricket despite the fact that Australia still took home in the urn in their hand luggage.

T20I captain Jos Buttler was not included in any of the tests against the Aussies, and while his fellow teammates pulled on their whites, he found himself at the crease for the Manchester Originals in The Hundred.

In 10 matches, the 32-year-old faced 269 balls and dispatched 391 runs on the way to his side finishing runners-up at Lord’s last Sunday in the final.

Now back sporting the Three Lions on his chest, the explosive opener will be looking to continue his good form against a New Zealand team that England have beaten in 14 of their last 23 matches.

With William Hill, if you fancy England to make it 15 successes against the Black Caps, they are the 4/5 favourites to do so, with a New Zealand victory currently 4/1 and the draw shorter at 9/4.

As for series’ correct score, an English whitewash can be backed with the bookmaker at 7/2, while a 3-1 scoreline in favour of the home team is just 15/8.

Room for experimentation

Thanks to the introduction of The Hundred into the English game, players like Brydon Carse have been able to display their talent to a wider audience before being called up to the T20I squad.

For New Zealand, this hasn’t been so easy for them, and with players like Jimmy Neesham and Kane Williamson out of the series and Trent Boult set to save himself for the ODI series, the Black Caps will need to experiment with their side to help prepare for the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India later this year.

In place of Neesham, who is awaiting the arrival of his first child, is confident all-rounder Cole McConchie who has played seven T20 matches for his national side, scoring 44 runs with a top score of 17 not out.

As for the other side of his game, the 31-year-old has taken seven wickets over the last seven matches and enjoyed an impressive spell of 3/15 against Bangladesh in 2021 on his T20I debut.

With all paths leading to the Cricket World Cup and New Zealand set to have a deeper team in the coming weeks when the ODI’s are played, this series against England will be a good litmus test to see how their current side is going.

Currently the 7/1 fifth-favourites, New Zealand could begin to show some good promise with the resources they have available, so the 2019 finalists could be the value play at this current stage.

As for England, they are 11/4 to win the Cricket World Cup for the second time in a row.