Ahead of the visiting England cricket tour of New Zealand, the hosts may well be looking for a little revenge on home soil, following the Cricket World Cup defeats in July. During the one-day international competition, New Zealand were beaten by 119 runs in their first encounter with England, which was also the crucial last match of the league phase. Tied for points in the standings with Pakistan, thankfully, a better Net Run Rate of +0.175 secured fourth position and passage to the semi-finals for the Black Caps.
Producing one of their best performances of the tournament, New Zealand earned a tight victory by 18 runs against India, who had been the strongest team during the previous phase. Inseparably tied in what turned out to be a thrilling World Cup final at Lord’s, incredibly, the match was still tied following the super over. In the end and frustratingly for the Black Caps, it was England who lifted the trophy thanks to better boundaries scored.
While the formats will be different to the one-day internationals at the Cricket World Cup, there’s no doubt that New Zealand will be relishing their opportunity to face England again, during the upcoming tour. The two formats in play will be a series of five T20 matches early in November, followed by two Test matches to end the month. Both will be preceded by warmup matches.
Lockie Ferguson is set to return from injury against @englandcricket for the Colin Munro led New Zealand XI in Lincoln. #CricketNation https://t.co/0L2ANTu6Pr
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) October 22, 2019
According to the latest ICC T20 international team rankings , England currently place second with a rating of 266, while New Zealand place sixth with a rating of 252. The most recent series for England in 2019 concluded with three victories against the West Indies in March. Meanwhile, the most recent T20 action for New Zealand saw them enjoy an equally convincing 3-0 series victory against Sri Lanka in September.
Given their respective ratings are so tight in the ICC rankings, this series of five T20 matches between New Zealand and England promises to be fiercely contested. However, the home advantage may give the Black Caps a slight advantage against the tourists, as both teams continue their preparations for the T20 World Cup next year where neither team is seen as the favourite in the cricket betting. That said, England will undoubtedly be keen to close the gap on Pakistan, who currently top the ICC rankings with a 274 rating from 29 weighted matches.
A number of new faces for our New Zealand tour
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 23, 2019
Following the excitement of the faster-paced T20 series, attention then turns to the more sedate and traditional cricket format, once the first of two Test matches begins. Historically, New Zealand have played more Test matches against England than any other international cricket team, with 103 since the very first test back in January 1930, until the most recent in April 2018.
Over the course of so many encounters between the two nations, New Zealand have only managed to win 10 Test matches against England, while drawing 45 and losing 48. Nevertheless, the Black Caps acquitted themselves very well in their last Test encounter as tourists in England, beating their hosts in the first Test, then drawing the second in March and April of 2018, so they will be hoping for more of the same this time around.
