Ben Stokes-led England have arrived in New Zealand for a three-match Test series, starting on Nov 28 in Christchurch. The series is part of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 cycle. The three Tests hold a lot of significance for the Kiwis, who are at the fourth spot in the WTC standings. They will be eager to add more points and climb up the ladder in the points table. The home team is coming into this series after a memorable run in India, where they whitewashed the hosts in a three-match series.
England, on the other hand, are very much out of contention as the fight is between the top five teams, i.e. India, Australia, Sri Lanka, NZ and South Africa. However, Stokes & Co. will be desperate to spoil NZ’s campaign.
Ahead of the England-NZ series, here is a look at the schedule, match timings, venues, squads for the three Tests:
1st Test: New Zealand vs England, Hagley Oval, Christchurch from Nov 28-Dec 2
2nd Test: New Zealand vs England, Basin Reserve, Wellington from Dec 6-Dec 10
3rd Test: New Zealand vs England, Seddon Park, Hamilton from Dec 14-Dec 18
All three Tests will commence at 3:30 AM (IST) and 11 AM local time. On the other hand, the live telecast of the three-match series will not be available in India. However, the live streaming can be available on Amazon Prime Video.
New Zealand: Tom Latham (c), Tom Blundell (wk), Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner (2nd & 3rd Tests), Nathan Smith, Tim Southee, Kane Williamson, Will Young
England: Ben Stokes (c), Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope (wk, vc), Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.
Playing XIs for 1st Test:
New Zealand: To be announced
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ollie Pope (wk, vc), Ben Stokes (c), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Shoaib Bashir.