Wellington is sold out till Day 4, Hamilton has no tickets left (also probably since it will be Tim Southee's final Test) and Christchurch has just a few remaining - this is all part of the renewed buzz and interest for Test cricket in New Zealand. This is what that rare whitewash in India did for New Zealand cricket. It has been a inspiring month and a half for the Kiwi men's and women's teams and Black Caps had a pretty huge role in that, hammering India at home 3-0, something no team has achieved in the past in Test cricket.
After losing two back-to-back series 2-0, at home against Australia and away to Sri Lanka, New Zealand had a captaincy change, were without their best Test batter and were sort of wandering around finding relevance in the format. That series win was timely as it rejuvenated a whole side and now keeps them in contention for a place in the WTC final.
The situation is still a must-win one but coming back from India, New Zealand will take that. Against them are England, who have their own fresh wounds from Pakistan desperately seeking an ointment of win. England don't have much to play for apart from testing their young bowling attack apart from Chris Woakes outside home in seaming conditions with the Ashes tour scheduled next year.
England batters will be a lot comfortable against pace and seam rather than spin and hence will hope for better outings but New Zealand at home is a different gravy and add to that the confidence from the India win. Should be a cracker!
When and where to watch NZ vs ENG Test series live on TV and OTT in India?
The three-match Test series between New Zealand and England will kick off on Thursday, November 28 at 3:30 AM IST every day till Monday, December 2, with the remaining games scheduled for December 6-10 and 14-18 in Wellington and Hamilton respectively. The NZ vs ENG Test series will be live broadcast on Sony Sports Ten 5 channel on TV and the live streaming of all three matches will be available on the SonyLiv app and website.
Squads
New Zealand: Tom Latham (c), Tom Blundell, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Will O'Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Nathan Smith, Tim Southee, Kane Williamson, Will Young
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (wk), Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jack Leach, Matt Potts, Rehan Ahmed, Shoaib Bashir
