England bowl, Mitchell Santner replaces Nathan Smith

December 14, 2024
6:15 am

Toss England chose to bowl vs New Zealand

England have won the toss and chosen to bowl first in the third and final Test against New Zealand at Seddon Park.

Having already taken an unassailable 2-0 lead, England are seeking to sweep the series and boost their record to 10 wins from 17 Tests this year. With that breathing space, the tourists announced on match eve just one change to their side which thrashed New Zealand by 323 runs in the second Test, giving Durham quick Matthew Potts a run in place of Chris Woakes, who broke open the Black Caps’ second innings in Wellington with two wickets inside the first seven overs. It will be Potts’ 10th England Test cap.

New Zealand have also been measured in their selections, honouring Tim Southee‘s bid to retire at his home ground after what will be his 107th Test despite a lacklustre series in which he has taken four wickets at 61.50. Will Young has earned a recall and will open the batting instead of Devon Conway, who is on paternity leave. The hosts have also opted to include left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner at the expense of seamer Nathan Smith.

Play was set to begin in mild, overcast conditions after rain earlier in the week.

Ben Stokes, England’s captain, said his call at the toss “could have gone either way”.

“We came here this morning and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, it gets closer to the toss and it’s overcast,” he said, adding that the decision to replace Woakes with Potts was “replacing one gun bowler with another”.

New Zealand skipper Tom Latham said a consolation victory would also be “a great way to send Tim off”.

“It looks a decent surface. We’ve certainly seen wickets in New Zealand with a lot more grass and a lot more greener tinge to it,” Latham said. “We know we haven’t been at our best but again we’ve got another opportunity to put a performance on the board that we’re proud of.”

England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Jacob Bethell, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ollie Pope (wk), 7 Ben Stokes (capt), 8 Gus Atkinson, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 Matt Potts, 11 Shoaib Bashir

New Zealand: 1 Tom Latham (capt), 2 Will Young, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Rachin Ravindra, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Tom Blundell (wk), 7 Glenn Phillips, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Matt Henry, 11 Will O’Rourke