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Sport Nation
Find your frequency hereBlackcaps name unchanged side for second Test against England
Sport Nation • December 5th, 2024 3:00 pm
Photo: Andrew Cornaga/Photosport
The Blackcaps have announced an unchanged starting XI for the second Test against England in Wellington, starting Friday.
Coach Gary Stead has passed up the opportunity to bring in India star Mitchell Santner, who joined the squad in Wellington this week, sticking with his quarter of seamers in Will O'Rourke, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, and newcomer Nathan Smith. Glenn Phillips will provide the spin option for captain Tom Latham.
There's also no room for India player of the series Will Young, despite the team's struggles with the bat at Hagley Oval, where the Blackcaps lost the first Test by eight wickets.
Latham said the decision to forego a specialist spinner was based on how the Basin Reserve had pitch had played recently at domestic level, with very relatively minimal return wicket-wise for non-seamers.
Basin Reserve looks a picture ahead of Blackcaps v England second Test
"The balance that we've gone in with is the right balance for this wicket, and we obviously have some spin options in the top seven anyway," said skipper Latham.
"We think it's the right fit and the guys are looking forward to the challenge."
Latham said Daryl Mitchell was "absolutely fine" despite reports he was struggling with a left knee problem, and that no changes had been considered to the batting order.
England have also remained with the same line-up from Christchurch, with Ollie Pope keeping the gloves and debutant Jacob Bethell backing up for his second outing.
"From our point of view, it's trying to focus on us as much as we can," Latham added.
"We know if we're able to do the processes as best as possible, then that gives us a good chance of the right outcome. We'll obviously be raring to go tomorrow."
New Zealand: Tom Latham (captain), Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell, Glenn Phillips, Nathan Smith, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Will O'Rourke.
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ollie Pope, Ben Stokes (captain), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Shoaib Bashir.
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