New Zealand test cricket team
New Zealand test cricket team. Image Credits: Twitter

New Zealand is set to kick off their campaign against Sri Lanka for the two-test series, starting on 9th March at Christchurch. This series is part of the containership for the World Test Championship (WTC) Final, as the Lankan side needs to clean sweep the series for making it to the final of WTC.

The Black Caps have named the same 13-member squad that featured in the last match against England for the upcoming two-match series, Tim Southee-led side became the only fourth team in 146 years of test cricket history to win the game after follow-on.

Tim Southee
Tim Southee. Image Credits: Twitter

The Kiwi side is already out of the race for WTC Final 2023, after being positioned at the 8th spot in WTC 2021-23 points table. New Zealand won the inaugural edition of the WTC final in 2021 by beating India at Southampton.

Kyle Jamieson is left out of the squad for two test match series. Initially, he was named for the series against England but later due to an injury, his name was withdrawn. While, Trent Boult, continues to remain unselected as he is out of the contract because he wanted to focus on playing franchise T20 cricket.

In the last test series, Black Caps levelled the two-test match series by 1-1 against Ben Stokes-led side. The Kiwi side was trailing by 0-1 before coming to the Wellington game. In the second test match against England, Tim Southee-led side became the second team in 146 years of history of test cricket to win the game by 1 run margin, what is famously called ‘Bazball’ was halted by the Black Caps.

With the help of Neil Wagner and Southee’s tremendous pace bowling spell, the home side avoided a series lost in their condition after getting defeated against South Africa in 2017. The European giants were on six test match winning streak before losing the last game.

New Zealand Test squad to face Sri Lanka: Tim Southee (capt), Tom Blundell (wk), Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Blair Tickner, Neil Wagner, Scott Kuggeleijn, Henry Nicholls, Kane Williamson, Will Young

Out: Jacob Duffy, Ish Sodhi, Kyle Jamieson (withdrawn from the previous series)