New Zealand tour of England 2022 – 1st Test, match preview, predicted lineups
England take on New Zealand in the first Test match of the three match series on Thursday. Both teams will be looking for a wi here.
Date & Time : 2-6 June 2022, 11:00 AM (Local)
Venue : Lord’s, London
England last played a series in March of this year which they lost 0-1 in the Caribbean against the West Indies, the Three-Test series. They in fact lost the series in Australia as well earlier this year the Ashes. So they will be looking to make amends.
The English team have a new captain and coach in Ben Stokes and kiwi Brendon McCullum. They will have to strategise pretty differently ahead of the summer.
Looking at the current squad they have included both the veterans, James Anderson and Stuart Broad. They will look to bowl out NZ cheaply and amass a lot of runs.
On the other hand, New Zealand last played a series up until April in which they dominated the dutch over the course of the limited-overs fixtures. In terms of their last Test series they drew 1-1 against South Africa in New Zealand.
The Kiwis now have the English in their sights to overcome the massive challenge as the cricket season has begun. They will take heart from the fact that they overcame their opponents last year. They will be captained by Kane Williamson and coach Gary Stead.
In terms of their squad they have depth with pacers like Boult, Southee, Wagner, Henry & Jamieson. While batting wise they have their key men like Conway, Nicholls, Latham & captain Williamson himself.
As for the wicket, the batsman and bowlers will both be assisted on this ground as teams will probably bowl first.
Team news and possible lineups
There are no fresh injury concerns for both sides at the moment.
England XI : Crawley, Lees, O. Pope, Root, Bairstow, Stokes (C), Foakes (WK), Potts, Leach, Anderson, Broad.
New Zealand XI : Latham, Conway, Williamson (C), Young, Mitchell, Blundell (WK), C. de Grandhomme, Jamieson, Wagner, Southee, A. Patel.
Prediction
It’s a tough one to call this game, may the best team over the course of five days which play the conditions well win.
