New Zealand vs England Prediction & Betting Tips - Second Test

Prediction published on 27/11/2019, 16:00  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 27/11/2019 at 17:00 in Cricket Predictions

New Zealand won the first test by an innings and 65 runs and little has gone right for England over the past week. Head coach Chris Silverwood has had to return home due to a family bereavement and England come into this game again with batting problems. Joe Root only scored 13 runs in the first test and has dropped out of top ten batsmen rankings. His captaincy isn't in danger yet but some of his field placings and letting bowlers try to bounce the opposition out has to be questioned. Dom Sibley batted for just over three hours on his test debut but only scored 34 runs and Olly Pope scored just one. There were some successes with Stokes, Denley and Burns all scoring half centuries but none went on to make the big scores that were needed to avoid defeat.

Their opponents looked in trouble at one stage in the game. England were 277-54 in the first innings but the Kiwis reduced them to 353 all out. In reply, New Zealand were 197-5 but then Watling and de Grandhomme put on 119 for the sixth wicket. It got even worse for the tourists as the seventh wicket put on 261 to take New Zealand over 200 runs ahead. They made 615-9 and then bowled England out for 197 for the innings victory. They may be without Trent Boult for this game but they are a strong side at home and can pile the misery on England to complete a 2-0 series win.