England to bat in crunch T20 clash with NZ

England will be the first to strike in their pivotal T20 World Cup clash with New Zealand in Brisbane.

Captain Jos Buttler decided to aim for The Gabba on Tuesday, where the first storms cleared to create ideal conditions.

Both sides remain unchanged, with the English top flight facing a heavy task against the well-launched opening bout of Trent Boult and Tim Southee.

Australia will be following the competition closely given the ramifications of the result.

An English victory puts the guests in the box to qualify for the semifinals, with a victory over Sri Lanka in the last game that will likely seal their passage.

But a defeat would likely leave Australia with the sole necessity of a victory over Afghanistan in order to progress.

A New Zealand win would seal the undefeated team’s place in the semi-finals.

England: Jos Buttler (c), Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.

New Zealand: Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson (c), Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Mitch Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *