New Zealand will host Australia for a three-match T20I series and a Test assignment for the first time in nine years. The trans-Tasman rivals have currently occupied two of the top three spots in the World Test Championship (WTC) points table and with Australia losing their final home Test and New Zealand humbling South Africa 2-0, it promises to be a great contest. But before the Test matches, there’s a three-match T20 series, which now falls under the scope of the Chappell-Hadley trophy, which now covers all white-ball assignments between the two countries.
New Zealand will be undermanned with no Daryl Mitchell and regular skipper Kane Williamson. The side got depleted further with pull-outs of Matt Henry and Tim Seifert. However, the Black Caps will be buoyed by the return of Trent Boult and having won the T20 series 4-1 against Pakistan, the hosts will be confident of turning screws on the Aussies, who themselves are coming off a 2-1 series win against the West Indies.
Here’s all you need to know about the Australia tour of New Zealand:
Full Schedule
February 21: 1st T20I – Sky Stadium, Wellington (12:40 PM IST)
February 23: 2nd T20I – Eden Park, Auckland (11:40 AM IST)
February 25: 3rd T20I, Eden Park, Auckland (6:30 AM IST)
February 29-March 4: 1st Test – Sky Stadium, Wellington (3:30 AM IST)
March 8-12: 2nd Test – Hagley Oval, Christchurch (3:30 AM IST)
SquadsÂ
T20Is
New Zealand: Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Josh Clarkson, Mitchell Santner (c), Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Ben Sears, Tim Southee (first game only), Adam Milne, Trent Boult (2nd and 3rd T20Is)
Australia: Mitchell Marsh (c), Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
Tests
New Zealand: Tim Southee (c), Tom Blundell (wk), Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Scott Kuggeleijn, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Neil Wagner, Kane Williamson, Will Young
Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc
Live streaming and telecast details
All five matches of Australia’s tour of New Zealand (including three T20Is and two Test matches) will not have a live telecast on TV in India, unfortunately. However, all the matches will be available for live streaming on the Amazon Prime Video app and website.
