Deadline: November 8, 2019 at 10:30 AM IST
Venue: McLean Park, Napier
Pitch Report
The pitch at the McLean Park produces some lateral movement, but it scales down as the ball loses it shine. The batsmen then take charge and go all guns blazing.
Teams
New Zealand want to seal the series already and hence won’t chop and change any combinations from the previous match.
Probable XI for New Zealand: Colin Munro, Martin Guptill, Tim Siefert (wk), Colin de Grandhomme, Ross Taylor, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee (c), Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Blair Tickner
With the series on the line, England will now have to stop giving caps to the new entrants. Jonny Bairstow, Chris Jordan, and Adil Rashid will be back in the playing XI.
Probable XI for England: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, James Vince, Eoin Morgan (c), Sam Billings (wk), Sam Curran, Lewis Gregory, Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, Patrick Brown/Adil Rashid, Mathew Parkinson
Fantasy Team
We have opted for a fantasy team on the basis of players’ impact, recent performances, and credit points.
You can also check players’ performances in the last 5 matches. Tap on the players’ images to get the data while making your fantasy team.
Note: You can now select 1-4 wicketkeepers, 1-6 batsmen, 1-6 all-rounders, 1-6 bowlers.
Wicketkeepers: Jonny Bairstow
Batsmen: James Vince, Martin Guptill, Eoin Morgan, Dawid Malan, Ross Taylor
All-rounders: Mitchell Santner, James Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme
Bowlers: Chris Jordan, Lockie Ferguson
Preview
In the third T20I, New Zealand had the chase in control until the 15th over. They needed 41 off 5 overs with 7 wickets in hand. On another day, they would have attained the target with an over to spare. However, the likes of Sam Billings and Sam Curran succumbed to pressure, and England managed a mere 27 runs thereafter.
In the match before that, they had failed to bat as a cohesive unit and, to make matters worse, they kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
New Zealand, on the other hand, have been showing off their nerves of steel. Not once have they put wrong foot forward, eventually forcing England to fall prey.
England had a promising start to the series, but that was that. Ever since, New Zealand have been breathing down their necks.
This time, however, Eoin Morgan will look to bat first if he calls it right at the toss. Putting a mammoth total might as well help them level the series.
Players To Watch Out For
Colin de Grandhomme’s promotion to the top order has reaped rewards for New Zealand. He starts playing his shots right away, no matter what situation his team is in. In the third T20I, despite losing Martin Guptill and Colin Munro in consecutive overs, de Grandhomme launched an onslaught, taking England by surprise. The end result was a stunning innings of 55 off 35 that propelled England to 180.
De Grandhomme, in fact, has the freedom to fire on all cylinders. Following him are Ross Taylor and James Neesham. While Taylor has scores off 44, 28, and 27, Neesham has been using the long handle to devastating effect in the death overs.
James Vince and Dawid Malan have been in terrific form in the series, scoring 109 and 105 runs respectively. If only the others raised their games that England would have been on the doorstep of victory.
With 7 wickets, Mitchell Santner is the highest wicket-taker in the series. He has dismissed Vince and Eoin Morgan twice in the series.
It was surprising that England rested Chris Jordan in the previous match. Despite playing a match fewer, he has more wickets (5) than any other English bowlers.
Match Prediction
England haven’t been at their best. They haven’t been as aggressive as they usually are, and worse, they have been squandering. New Zealand, on the other hand, have been cool as a cucumber. That being said, it will be interesting to see how New Zealand responds when England go bonkers.
Squads
New Zealand: Tim Southee (c), Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Scott Kuggeleijn, Daryl Mitchell, Colin Munro, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Ross Taylor, Blair Tickner
England: Eoin Morgan (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Pat Brown, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Lewis Gregory, Chris Jordan, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Matt Parkinson, Adil Rashid, James Vince