After a closely fought ODI series, England and New Zealand are set to lock horns for the one-off T20 match at Old Trafford, Manchester.
The English side has played some phenomenal cricket in the 50 over format as they came back from behind to win the ODI series 3-2. New Zealand was ahead by 2-1 in the series but England came back strongly in the last two matches to keep the series in their favour.
On one side there is a rejuvenated England who showed a spirited performance in this series after their dismal show in the World Cup and they will be keen to keep up their consistency in the T20 match also.
On the other hand we have the World Cup runners-up New Zealand who were unfortunate to capitalize their lead and ended up losing . Throughout the 5 match series, they played some good entertaining cricket and will be looking to finish the series on a positive note by winning the sole T20 match.
In the English squad, apart from new additions Reece Topley and James Vince, the T20 squad features most of the players who have been a part of the ODI series. They will be led by their skipper Eoin Morgan who is ecstatic about the ‘new look’ of his team. Jonny Bairstow, who replaced an injured Jos Buttler for the final ODI and came up with a match-winning performance, is part of the T20I squad too and he is set to feature in the eleven on Tuesday. England are most likely to stick with the same eleven that clinched the ODI series at Chester-le-Street, which means that England will have three T20I debutants in Sam Billings, David Willey and Mark Wood.
Speaking of the visitors, New Zealand will be led by Brendon McCullum who is known to be a destructive batsman in the T20 format and an equally aggressive captain in the field. Mitchell Santner is likely to feature in his maiden T20 game after his impressive all-round performances in the ODI series. Mitchell McClenaghan, who was left out for the final ODI, might make a comeback in the team for the T20 game, if his achievements in the IPL are considered. Nathan McCullum and Andrew Matheison are going to be competing for a spot depending on what the Kiwis plan to go with. If they choose to go for medium pace, then Matheison will make his T20 debut else if they choose to go for an extra spinning option, Nathan McCullum might find his way in.
So going by the looks of the both the teams, we can expect a very close contest in the match which can go anybody’s way.
England Probable Playing XI:
Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Ben Stokes, Jonathan Bairstow, Sam Billings, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Mark Wood, Steven Finn
New Zealand Probable Playing XI:
Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, Luke Ronchi, Mitchell Santner, Nathan McCullum/ Andrew Mathieson, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Mitchell McClenaghan
Match Starts at 11.00 pm(IST)