NZ primed to ‘throw some punches’ at confident England

GBNEWS24DESK//

New Zealand will “throw some punches” when they face an attacking England in the second Test starting on Friday in Wellington, as the hosts bid to rescue the two-match series.

Bowling greats James Anderson, is back on top of the ICC Test rankings for the sixth time in his illustrious career, and Stuart Broad, combined with some aggressive batting, propelled England to a thumping 267-run first Test win in a day-night encounter in Mount Maunganui.

It was England’s 10th win in 11 Tests under head coach Brendon McCullum and further evidence of the success of the New Zealander’s “Bazball” attacking cricket revolution.

In contrast, New Zealand are struggling for form and confidence going into the clash at Wellington’s Basin Reserve, where rain could play a part on the first two days.

The hosts are winless in their last seven Tests since beating South Africa a year ago in Christchurch, including suffering a 3-0 whitewash in England last June.

“I don’t think it’s unfair to say we are lacking a bit of that confidence at the moment,” said head coach Gary Stead, whose side were dismissed for 126 in their second innings of the first Test to lose in a little over three days.

“But I can assure you the faith is still with this group of guys. We’re going to put everything behind them to make sure we go out there in Wellington and really throw some punches back at England.”