After a thrilling opening match from Christchurch, the Test series between New Zealand and England moves to Wellington for the 2nd Test starting Friday morning. We have you covered with a full preview and betting tips for the action below.
New Zealand vs England 2nd Test Betting Tips
Wellington, Friday 6th December, 9.00am (AEDT)
In classic BazBall fashion, England blasted New Zealand off the pitch in their first batting innings in Christchurch, putting on 499 runs in just 103 overs on the back of a brilliant 171 from Harry Brook. This gave them a lead of 151 before youngster Brydon Carse, playing in just his third Test match, took 6/42 to roll the Kiwis for 254 and set up an easy fourth innings chase.
New Zealand
Without knowing too much about how the pitch will play for this 2nd Test, it’s hard to gauge whether the home side will make any changes here. If the wicket is a little more conducive towards spin, then we could see Mitchell Santner coming into the side, likely at the expense of Nathan Smith or Will O’Rourke. However, given New Zealand wickets are generally on the greener side, I think they probably go into the match unchanged.
New Zealand Predicted XI: Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell, Glenn Phillips, Nathan Smith, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Will O’Rourke
England
England have a touch more scope to make a change given the size of their squad for this tour, but given the fantastic win, it’s hard to see them making one. If they were to make a change, it would likely be to their fast bowling contingent. Both Matthew Potts and Olly Stone are waiting in the wings for a call up, and either or both could replace Chris Woakes or Gus Atkinson for the 2nd Test.
England Predicted XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ollie Pope, Ben Stokes, Bryson Carse, Matthew Potts, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir
Betting Prediction
I think the 1st Test was a lot closer than the scoreline suggests, and for long periods throughout the match, the Kiwis were actually the better team. However, their fielding let them down, particularly after having England in trouble at 4-71 in the first innings, where they dropped no less than eight catches.
It’s not a characteristic that you usually associate with New Zealand, who have been one of the better, if not the best fielding nation in the world for the better part of a decade now. I full expect them to clean those issues up and be much more competitive in this 2nd Test. Their batting line-up is in better form than the English at the moment, and their fast bowling contingent looks really settled with Matt Henry in career best form.
Back them to bounce back here.
New Zealand to win
$2.00 (2 Units)
