- New Zealand will host England in a best-of-three Test series over November and December
- The Kiwis will seek to build on their recent series sweep of India
- Another series sweep over England will keep the Kiwis in the race to reach the 2025 World Test Championship
- England has lost three of their last four Tests and are already out of contention for the 2025 showpiece final
New Zealand will meet England in a three-match Test series.
The series is part of the World Test Championship and also marks the start of New Zealand's home summer of Test cricket.
The Kiwis are fresh from completing a record-breaking 3-0 sweep over India on Indian soil. England didn't fare so well in their trip to the sub-continent. The Three Lions lost 2-1 to Pakistan.
The action starts in Christchurch on November 28th. The full itinerary is:
- 1st Test: Hagley Oval, Christchurch, Nov 28th - Dec 2nd, 2024
- 2nd Test: Basin Reserve, Wellington, Dec 6th-10th 2024
- 3rd Test: Seddon Park, Hamilton, Dec 14th-18th, 2024
New Zealand vs. England: Series Betting
Despite the conflicting results and New Zealand having a home-field advantage, the bookmakers are split over who will win the series.
In the latest series betting winner, the cricket betting odds are +125 on a series win for New Zealand, and +125 on England to win the series. A drawn series is +400.
In the series score market, a 2-1 win for New Zealand is +275, with a 2-1 win for England the same odds. New Zealand and England are both +800 to win the series 3-0.
The bottom line is the bookmakers don’t see any of the three matches ending in a draw. And they also can’t split the two teams.
New Zealand
The Black Caps have just completed a 3-0 series win away in India. Such results are unheard of, so to say it was a shock is somewhat of an understatement.
It’s one thing to win in India, England was the last team to do it with a 2-1 scoreline in 2012, but it’s completely something else to sweep a series win in India.
New Zealand wrap up a remarkable Test series with a 3-0 whitewash over India following a thrilling win in Mumbai 👏 #WTC25 | 📝 #INDvNZ: https://t.co/XMfjP9Wm9s pic.twitter.com/vV9OwFnObv
— ICC (@ICC) November 3, 2024
Make no bones about it, from an Indian perspective, it was a humiliating loss. From a Black Caps standpoint, it was a career-high for a bunch of cricketers who have consistently punched above their weight in recent years.
Furthermore, the 3-0 win was achieved without talisman Kane Williamson. The former captain sat out all three matches with injury. He is back in the squad to face England.
Also missing from the 3rd Test victory over India was spin-bowling allrounder Mitchell Santner. He was the match winner in the second test with match figures of 13/157.
His absence from the 3rd Test with a side strain should have improved India’s chances of picking up a consolation win. But the Black Caps still found a way to win without the influential all-rounder.
Santner has still not recovered from the injury and won’t be ready for the 1st Test. But he is expected to play in the 2nd and 3rd Test matches.
England
England has just lost a tough series 2-1 away to Pakistan.
After racking up a monstrous score of 823/7 in their 1st innings to set up the win in the 1st Test, England looked set to dominate the series.
💥 Harry Brook - 317
🙌 Joe Root - 262
💪 England – 823/7 decRecords tumbled in Multan on Thursday 📝⬇️#WTC25 | #PAKvENGhttps://t.co/clvyiGGqN4
— ICC (@ICC) October 10, 2024
But Pakistan tore up the rule book and gambled on a couple of unknown spinners, Sajid Khan and Noman Ali, who England simply couldn’t handle. Khan and Ali turned the series on its head and won the 2nd and 3rd Tests for Pakistan.
Pakistan at home is nothing as formidable as India at home. So even a series win for England wouldn’t have matched what the Black Caps achieved in India.
The series loss leaves England in an awkward place. They are planning an assault on the Ashes in Australia in 12 months. Their current team selections are clearly building towards that.
But if they can’t return to consistently winning Test matches again soon, they will turn up in Australia low on confidence. And no team is better at punishing a team low on confidence than the Aussies are.
The Three Lions really need to win this series in New Zealand.
New Zealand vs. England best bets
It might sound ludicrous for the best cricket betting online sites to say this series is a 50/50 call. New Zealand has just beaten India, and England lost to Pakistan. So on the current form of both teams, it surely has to be a win for New Zealand.
Not necessarily. The conditions the two teams faced in India and Pakistan will be nothing like what they will be met with in New Zealand. England struggled more on the sub-continent than New Zealand did.
But the Three Lions will be perfectly at home in Kiwi conditions, and this totally levels the playing field.
England really can’t afford to lose this series. The Black Caps will be buzzing after beating India. Something has to give, and going totally against the current form, we can see this being a bit of back-down-to-earth with a bump series for New Zealand.
Our pick is for the Three Lions to bounce back with a series win. Back 2-1 or 3-0 to England for the better odds.
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