Match: 1st Test Match.
Teams: England vs New Zealand.
Venue: Lord’s.
Time: 3:30 pm IST.
Preview: The scenes of World Cup Final of 2019 is bound to reflect in the cricket fans mind when England takes on New Zealand at Lords in whites. For England, it is about fielding a fresh look Xi with 2 debutants whereas New Zealand would love to sharpen their skills ahead of the WTC Finals.
Pitch Report: Lords has been historically a win the toss and bat first pitch and the average 4th innings score of 155 confirms it. In the last 10 matches played at this venue, the team batting first has won 7 times whereas the chasing team has won twice. The last encounter at this venue was drawn due to rain.
Weather forcast: Lords is currently overcast with rainfall predicted in last 3 days of the match. So rain is expected to play the spoilsport in the next two games.
Last 2 H2H Record: (Players in current squad).
1. Eng vs Nz at Bay Oval, Nov 21-25, 2019. (Nz won by an innings and 65 runs).
1st Innings: Eng: 353/10.
Rory Burns: 52.
Tim Southee: 4 wickets.
Wagner: 3 wickets.
2nd Innings: Nz: 615/9 dec.
Watling: 205.
Santner: 126.
Colin de Grandhomme: 65.
Williamson: 51.
Jack Leach: 2 wickets.
3rd Innings: Eng: 197/10.
Rory Burns: 31.
Wagner: 5 wickets.
Santner: 3 wickets.
2. Eng vs Nz at Seddon Park, Nov 29- Dec 3,2019. (Match Drawn).
1st Innings: Nz: 375/10.
Latham: 105.
Mitchell: 73.
Watling: 55.
Taylor: 53.
Broad: 4 wickets.
2nd Innings: Eng: 476/10.
Root: 226.
Rory Burns: 101.
Pope:75.
Wagner: 5 wickets.
Southee: 2 wickets.
3rd Innings: Nz: 241/2.
Taylor: 105.
Williamson: 104.
Last H2H at Lords:
1. Eng vs Nz at Lords, 21-25 May,2015. (Eng won by 124 runs).
1st Inns: Eng: 389/10.
Root:98.
Boult: 4 wickets.
Southee: 1 wicket.
2nd Inns: Nz: 523/10.
Williamson: 132.
Taylor: 62.
Watling: 61.
Latham: 59.
Broad: 3 wickets.
Wood: 3 wickets.
Anderson: 1 wicket.
3rd Inns: Eng: 478/10.
Root: 84.
Boult: 5 wickets.
Southee: 2 wickets.
4th Inns: Nz: 220/10.
Watling: 59.
Broad: 3 wickets.
Anderson: 1 wicket.
Common Players from both:
Eng: Root, Broad, Rory Burns, Anderson.
Nz: Williamson, Watling, Taylor, Southee, Wagner.
Venue wise stats: ( From current squad)
Highest Run Getter:
Root: 1189 runs (26 inns), Avg: 47.56.
Broad: 881 runs (35 inns), Avg: 29.36.
Highest Wicket Taker:
Anderson: 103 wkts (45 inns), Avg: 23.89.
Broad: 94 wkts (46 inns), Avg: 27.06.
Probable Xi:
England: Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Zak Crawley, Joe Root (c), Ollie Pope, Daniel Lawrence, James Bracey (wk), Ollie Robinson, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, James Anderson.
New Zealand: Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling (wk), Colin de Grandhome, Mitchell Santner, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner.
Fantasy Team:
Wk: Watling.
Batsmen: Root, Williamson,Latham.
All rounders: Santner.
Bowlers: Wagner, Southee, Broad, Jamieson Anderson.
Safe C/Vc: Root, Broad.
Differential C/Vc: Williamson, Southee, Wagner (especially with old ball).
Risky C/Vc : Anderson, Latham, Jamieson.
(Disclaimer: The toss is extremely important and I will make my team accordingly. I will be keeping less batsmen from the side batting 4th on this pitch.)