England will lock horns with New Zealand one last time in this series for the one-off Twenty20 (T20) match at Old Trafford on 23 June. England have already stunned the Kiwis by defeating them in the ODI series and they will be riding high on the winning momentum.
This revamped and charged-up English side, led by Eoin Morgan, have played some excellent cricket both during the two-match Test series and during the recently concluded ODI series. They would look to emulate similar performance in this one-off T20 match at Old Trafford on Tuesday night.
It is unlikely that England are going to make any changes to their playing XI, which played the last and final ODI at Chester-le-Street. England skipper Morgan has been in impeccable form and has managed to hit three half centuries and a big century at the Ageas Bowl during the ODI series. He also needs 30 more runs to surpass Kevin Pietersen's record of the highest run scorer for England in the shortest format of the international game.
Johnny Bairstow is likely to retain the keeping gloves in place of injured Jos Buttler. Bairstow was the man who went hammer and tongs in the final ODI and helped England to chase down 192 run in 26 overs and thereby sealing the ODI series against the Black Caps. James Vince and Reece Topley are the new additions to this England squad but their place in the playing XI tonight cannot be confirmed.
If England comes into this one-off T20 match with an unchanged playing XI, then it would mean debut for three English players in the T20 format: Sam Billings, Mark Wood and David Willey.
On the other hand, the Kiwis will be without the services of their speedster Trent Boult as he is injured and has gone back to New Zealand. Mitchell McClenaghan, Tim Southee and Matt Henry will form the pace attack. Mitchell Santner and Nathan McCullum will take care of the spinning options. Kane Williamson can also roll his wrists as he has done it in this series before and that too quite effectively. New Zealand will look to end this series on a winning note after a drawn Test series and a lost ODI series.
The pitch at Old Trafford is likely to produce yet another run feast wicket. This series has already seen both the sides scoring the most number of runs in the history of ODI cricket, courtesy some terrific batting-friendly pitches prepared by the curators. The weather forecast said that there are very little chances of rain.
Expected Lineups:
England: Eoin Morgan (C), Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Sam Billings, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Mark Wood, Steven Finn.
New Zealand: Brendon McCullum (C), Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott/Colin Munro, Luke Ronchi (wk), Mitchell Santner, Nathan McCullum, Tim Southee, Mitchell McClenaghan, Matt Henry.
Where to Watch Live
The one-off T20 match between England and New Zealand is scheduled to start at 6:30 pm BST (11:00 pm IST, 1:30 pm ET, 5:30 am NZ time) start, while live coverage in India will be on Star Sports2 and Star Sports HD2. The one-off T20 match can also be watched via live streaming online on Starsports.com.
Viewers in the UK can catch the match action over on Sky Sports2, while the live streaming options are on Sky Go, Watch Sky Sports and Now TV .
Audience in the US can watch the game live on ESPN3 and Watch ESPN, while viewers in New Zealand can do so on Sky Sport and Sky Go NZ.
