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James Wallace<\/p>\n
That\u2019s it from us today, a washout to start the series but plenty more cricket in store over the coming days, weeks and months. Thanks for tuning in, goodbye.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n The Captains have a quick word:<\/p>\n Harry Brook: \u201cThe pitch did a little bit to start with. Matt Henry, especially, made the most of the surface. We obviously want to adapt to the situation and the surface but with the depth of batting we\u2019ve got, we can go hard all the way through.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe probably just want to be quicker at adapting to the surface. Using your options, and executing\u2026 it\u2019s been good fun, a great bunch of lads and all loving being in the squad. We\u2019re looking forward to the rest of the series.\u201d<\/p>\n Mitchell Santner:<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a little bit in it, like we thought. The boys started off really well with the new ball. A pretty good all-round performance\u2026 It\u2019s a building block for what we\u2019ve got coming up. It\u2019s nice to be back with the lads, we pride ourselves on adapting and we were pretty clinical out there to keep chipping wickets away.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Match abandoned!<\/p>\n It was false hope I\u2019m afraid, too much rain has fallen and the forecast isn\u2019t great for the rest of the evening, the umpires inspected and called the whole thing off. The series remains 0-0 with two more to play.<\/p>\n Sadly our first IT20 in New Zealand has been abandoned after heavy rain \u2614\ufe0f<\/p>\n We play the second match of the series on Monday morning (UK). pic.twitter.com\/Arc88dZW26<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 England Cricket (@englandcricket) October 18, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.19 EDT<\/p>\n A rollercoaster of intel from Simon at the ground:<\/p>\n \u201cAn update from The rain looks pretty set in, and if play hasn\u2019t restarted by precisely 10.33pm local time the game will be abandoned. Plenty of people are already giving up and heading off. It\u2019s a big night for sport in Christchurch – Canterbury have beaten Hawke\u2019s Bay in the semi-finals of the National Provincial Championship across town at the Apollo Projects Stadium, and it has turned out to be a much better night for that sport than this\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n then a few minutes later:<\/p>\n \u201cThe rain has significantly eased since my last message. Perhaps there\u2019s life in this yet\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt has now stopped, the covers are coming off, and they\u2019re driving a big hairdryer around the outfield!\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n I\u2019m afraid to say the rain is falling heavily and the bowler\u2019s run ups are now covered. It does not look good. This might well be curtains folks.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Rain delays restart<\/p>\n The rain has returned at the Hagley Oval hence the delay to the re-start. It doesn\u2019t look great as full covers are pulled across the square.<\/p>\n Covers are seen on the pitch as rain delays play at Hagley Oval. Photograph: Joe Allison\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a004.45 EDT<\/p>\n England make 153-6, New Zealand need 154 to win<\/p>\n 20th over: England 153-6 (Curran 49, Carse 3) Curran swishes and misses at a tramline skimmer outside off but then picks up two over midwicket and collects four with a hack down the ground \u2013 effective but not pretty. See ya! A full toss from Duffy is middled for SIX with fast hands from Curran, he\u2019s been dropped twice but is hauling England to a competitive total. A thick edge over the keeper brings four off the final ball, England recover to post 153-6.<\/p>\n Nineteen runs off the final over, Curran finishes on 49 and England get past 150. New Zealand bowled very well, seam and spin playing a part and England were spluttering at 81-5 in the 12th over. I reckon its a par score on this surface, we\u2019ll be back shortly for New Zealand\u2019s chase.<\/p>\n Sam Curran seeing it big. Photograph: Sanka Vidanagama\/AFP\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a004.34 EDT<\/p>\n 19th over: England 134-6 (Curran 31, Carse 3) Kyle Jamieson begins his last over with a wide and then oversteps the front line to gift a free hit. Curran swishes the freebie for two to leg. The batter is then given out LBW but the DRS shows the ball pitched outside leg! Curran survives to face the last over. Jacob Duffy is going to deliver it.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 18th over: England 127-6 (Curran 27, Carse 2) Curran flays the returning Henry for four through the covers. Both he and Carse are busy, scampering twos as they try to haul England\u2019s total to something challenging. DROP! That could be costly! Tim Robinson spills a simple chance on the cover point boundary, in and out of the bread basket.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 17th over: England 116-6 (Curran 17, Carse 1) Brydon Carse joins Curran and gets off the mark with a fence to leg. Curran drives into the deep to keep strike. Three to go, England need to find some boundaries.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>WICKET! Jordan Cox c Mitchell b Jamieson 16 (England 114-6)<\/p>\n Cox smashes the first ball back after the rain delay for four over long-on but then skies a cross seamer from Jamieson and Daryl Mitchell clings onto a steepling catch!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Good news! The covers are off and the rain has stopped. The players are on the way back out. Cox and Curran need to do something of a rescue job with 3.4 overs left in the innings and runs hard to come by.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Rain Delay Reading:<\/p>\n Raf Nicholson casts her eye and her quill over England\u2019s batting woes:<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Rain stops play – England 110-5<\/p>\n Gah! The players scamper from the ground as the rain gets heavier. I think they were due to get some, fingers crossed it blows over soon.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 16th over: England 109-5 (Curran 15, Cox 12) Jacob Duffy back into the attack with five overs to go of England\u2019s innings. There is a smattering of rain falling at the Hagley Oval now, the groundstaff look a bit twitchy on the boundary edge.<\/p>\n Cox splats a four down the leg side and a follow up ball flicks the pad and whistles away for four more. England will take them however which way. DROP! Curran is late on a pull shot and it goes high into the night sky, Duffy the bowler looks uncomfortable under it and spills the chance! It was a tough one in swirling conditions but he looks a bit embarrassed to have shelled it.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 15th over: England 97-5 (Curran 13, Cox 6) Curran lofts Santner for SIX down the ground but is disappointed to miss out next ball on a drag down that he clobbers straight to the fielder in the ring at midwicket. Santner finishes with 1-20 off his four overs, indicative of the strangle his side have put on England.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 14th over: England 90-5 (Curran 7, Cox 5) Bracewell with another parsimonious (insert Jeremy Coney impression) over. Five off it, neatly 25 minutes and 28 balls since England\u2019s last boundary. Not ideal. Santner has rotated his bowlers well and they\u2019ve executed to his field placings. The skipper is bringing himself back on for his last over.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.29 EDT<\/p>\n 13th over: England 85-5 (Curran 5, Cox 2 ) Jamieson returns and his over only costs two runs as England fail to rotate strike or find a release. New Zealand all over the visitors at the moment.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 12th over: England 83-5 (Curran 5, Cox 1 ) Just five runs and a wicket off the over as Jordan Cox arrives at the crease in his new \u2018finisher\u2019 role. England quite a way off a finished target in this innings.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.23 EDT<\/p>\n WICKET! Jos Buttler c Henry b Bracewell 29 (England 81-5)<\/p>\n Michael Bracewell gets the big one! Buttler is starved of the strike and plays the big shot but can\u2019t find the fence, Matt Henry taking the catch at long on. England in strife now!<\/p>\n Michael Bracewell gets the key wicket of Jos Buttler. Photograph: Joe Allison\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.28 EDT<\/p>\n 11th over: England 78-4 (Buttler 27, Curran 2) Sam Curran joins Buttler in the middle. Poor old Jos has been out there from the start but only faced 21 balls. Santner rattles through his third over and he has figures of 1-13 at the moment. Tidy.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.13 EDT<\/p>\n WICKET! Tom Banton c Neesham b Santner 9 (England 75-4)<\/p>\n First ball after drinks and Banton holes out to long on! Comfortable catch from Neesham a few yards in from the boundary sponge.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 10th over: England 75-3 (Buttler 26, Banton 9) Neesham returns and Banton just clears mid-off to get four. Heart in mouth for a second there. I think 150 is a par score on this surface, England are 75-3 at the halfway stage. You do the math(s).<\/p>\n Time for a drink. A slurp of luminous electrolytes at the Hagley Oval and a big fat shot of Douwe Egberts here in deepest Sussex.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 9th over: England 50-2 (Buttler 26, Banton 3) England will want Jos Buttler to bat deep into this innings, its been hard work for the visitors so far in Christchurch. Santner is frugal once again, just four runs off the over, Banton gets off the mark with a lofted two over the infield.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>WICKET! Harry Brook b Neesham 20 (England 64-3)<\/p>\n The debonair Jimmy Neesham comes into the attack and is bunted straightaway down the ground for SIX by Brook. Brook then attempts one of those roly-poly Rishabh Pant style Mr Tumble scoops over the keeper but doesn\u2019t connect. A lot going on there for no run. SIX! Brook slams another big one over the leg side with glorious timing. He\u2019s looking dangerous now\u2026<\/p>\n GONE! Neesham gets his revenge with a cutter that foxes Brook, the ball hitting the knee roll and then deflecting onto the stumps. Brook feels hard done by but he was defeated by the bowler there. Big wicket!<\/p>\n 8th over: England 64-3 (Buttler 25, Banton 0) Tom Banton joins Buttler in the middle. <\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.58 EDT<\/p>\n 7th over: England 50-2 (Buttler 25, Brook 7) A beautiful sunset breaks through the cloud above the Hagley Oval and Mitch Santner comes on for a a twirl. He\u2019s such a miserly bowler, you\u2019d hate to face his left-arm asphyxiation. Buttler and Brook use their crease and play off the back foot, picking off singles but no boundary to be found. Six off the over brings up Englands\u2019s fifty.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 6th over: England 44-2 (Buttler 20, Brook 5) Buttler flicks new bowler Kyle Jamieson for four over the leg side and then scoops over the keeper\u2019s head for a one bounce boundary off the next ball. The lantern jawed man mountain Jamieson responds with a slower ball yorker and one speared into the ribs.<\/p>\n Jamieson stays with pace off approach and both batter\u2019s nudge a single to finish the over. That\u2019s the end of the PowerPlay, the home side on top at the moment.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 5th over: England 33-2 (Buttler 10, Brook 4) Matt Henry pins Harry Brook on the pad with a nip-backer first ball! The bowler is convinced but the umpire says no. The go upstairs and it stays NOT OUT as the ball was slipping just over leg stump. New Zealand lose a review but are licking their lips on this wicket. There\u2019s movement off the pitch and through the air.<\/p>\n Brook charges and misses a swipe into the leg side, his hand coming off the handle in the process. Henry has five dots and wicket but Brook spoils his over with a flicked four off the final ball.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>WICKET! Jacob Bethell c & b Henry 15 (England 29-2)<\/p>\n He\u2019s gone now though! Bethell mis-times a pull and it goes straight up, the bowler Matt Henry takes the skied catch. The fun is over for Jacob Bethell, a scratchy start, followed by a fluent few strokes and it\u2019s all over.<\/p>\n Matt Henry takes the catch off his own bowling. Photograph: Sanka Vidanagama\/AFP\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.52 EDT<\/p>\n 4th over: England 14-1 (Buttler 10, Bethell 15) Duffy slings down a leg side wide and Buttler clips off his pads for a single. Close! Bethell cuffs a pull shot that just clears the inner ring. Ah, that\u2019s a beauty! Bethell steps down and plays a ,majestic straight drive up and over the bowler for SIX! The next ball is stylishly plundered over midwicket on the pull for four! No you stop it.<\/p>\n A single off the last sees Bethell keep strike for the next and makes it 15 runs off the over.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 3rd over: England 14-1 (Buttler 9, Bethell 2) Buttler gets a single off the first ball but Bethell can\u2019t get off strike. Some free flowing shots go straight to the fielders and the pressure starts to rise. Play and a miss! Henry moves one off a length late and it is wafty-woo from Bethell. There we go \u2013 a tuck off the hip for two gets the youngster off the mark, that\u2019ll settle him down a bit. Just three off the over.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 2nd over: England 11-1 (Buttler 7, Bethell 0) Jacob Bethell gets an early visit to the middle. Don\u2019t mention the A word! He starts with two dots, a play and miss and a thick outside edge. Good over from Duffy and New Zealand have the better of the early exchanges.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>WICKET! Phil Salt c Chapman b Duffy 3 (England 11-1)<\/p>\n Salt hacks Jacob Duffy in the air to deep third and Mark Chapman takes an excellent low catch. England lose their first wicket early.<\/p>\n Mark Chapman pulls a face but takes the catch. Photograph: Andrew Cornaga\/APShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.48 EDT<\/p>\n 1st over: England 8-0 (Buttler 7, Salt 1) Matt Henry starts with the ball for New Zealand, he\u2019ll be getting the white ball to jag about off the seam. Sure enough the first ball to Salt spits off a length and there\u2019s a leading edge that flies over point for a single. Jos Buttler comes onto strike and smears his second ball over midwicket for SIX! Didn\u2019t get all of it but enough to clear the fence. An early sight of the shoulder shimmy from Buttler.<\/p>\n Henry responds with some late movement that keeps Buttler tied down, a single and then a swing and a miss from Salt off the last ball narrowly avoids the stumps off the inside edge. Eventful start!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The players emerge onto the outfield of a blustery Hagley Oval. Looks like a double cable knit sort of evening to me. Let\u2019s play!<\/p>\n Share<\/a>New Zealand win the toss and choose to bowl first<\/p>\n Mitch Santner \u2013 not at all reminding me of the \u2018Weatherfield One\u2019 Deidre Barlow when he wears his oversized specs\u2026 wins the toss.<\/p>\n \u201cBit of grass so we\u2019ve got to be smart with the wind,\u201d says Santner. \u201cBut we think it\u2019s going to play pretty well and will see if it does anything first up. We were close in the Australia series but think we played some good cricket. England bat deep and we know that. Try and take wickets throughout. Got to be smart. Try and get hit into the big side as much as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe would\u2019ve had a bowl, definitely,\u201d says Harry Brook. \u201cWe got some stats that said it\u2019s 50-50 either way. This is our main focus, with the T20 World Cup in the back of our mind. We always name our team early, to give people a bit of freedom and to let them prepare for the game.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Like I said, don\u2019t mention the little urn, no one else is. Nothing to see here.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n As I namecheck Simon he sends me a lovely missive from the Hagley Oval. Well, lovely apart from the bit about the possibility of precipitation.<\/p>\n Kia Ora from lovely Christchurch. Such a lovely city to visit – everything\u2019s wonderfully walkable, easily navigable and, at least until you get to the edge of town, completely flat (and those hills are also wonderfully walkable). It\u2019s a sellout at Hagley Oval tonight and the grass banks that ring the ground are looking pretty full already, with half an hour until the start. It\u2019s a beautiful ground but completely exposed and as such irredeemably useless in the event of rain – talking of which, there hasn\u2019t been so much of a drop since England arrived here on Wednesday, but forecasts suggest that run – and, in cricketing terms, the runs – will end at around 9pm this evening. We\u2019ll wait and see on that, it\u2019s a near-perfect early evening as I type.\u201d<\/p>\n Pitch black early morning here Burnto, I\u2019m in my fleece and slippers nursing a vat of Kenco. But it is dry. So I win? Perhaps not.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Simon Burnton is our man on the ground, I hope he\u2019s been having as nice a time as Harry Brook and his men ahead of this first match of the tour\u2026<\/p>\n Brendon McCullum took his team to Queenstown in New Zealand\u2019s Southern Alps where, in Harry Brook\u2019s words, they were \u201cjust left to our own devices\u201d. There was some hiking, a bit of go-karting and, inevitably, a lot of golf.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had an amazing time,\u201d Brook said. \u201cThey\u2019ve got some amazing golf courses down there and we were lucky enough to get on a couple of them. A couple of lads managed to get out and explore Queenstown. We had a few drinks here and there and team meals.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a lot of fun \u2013 it was about trying to spend a bit of time together because we don\u2019t really get that in the white-ball [team]. If you\u2019re having a lot of fun off the field and enjoying spending time with the lads, then it\u2019s going to be even better on the field. So I encourage everybody under mine and Baz\u2019s leadership to just enjoy themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Preamble Winter is coming here.<\/p>\n Hello and welcome to the start of England\u2019s epic winter of cricket. To start things off, a three match T20I series followed by three ODIs against New Zealand. Today\u2019s match will begin in about half an hour in Christchurch.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t call it an Ashes warm up game. No honestly. Don\u2019t mention the A word at all. Jacob Bethell gets a sparkling ton against the Black Caps today? Pay it never mind, there\u2019s a T20 World Cup on the horizon, all roads do not lead to Perth on the 21st November. Ahem.<\/p>\n The coin will be tossed shortly but we already know the sides with both teams confirming their XI\u2019s in advance.<\/p>\n New Zealand: 1 Tim Seifert (wk), 2 Rachin Ravindra, 3 Tim Robinson, 4 Mark Chapman, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Michael Bracewell, 7 James Neesham, 8 Mitchell Santner (c), 9 Kyle Jamieson, 10 Matt Henry, 11 Jacob Duffy.<\/p>\n England: 1 Phil Salt, 2 Jos Buttler (wk), 3 Jacob Bethell, 4 Harry Brook (c), 5 Tom Banton, 6 Sam Curran, 7 Jordan Cox, 8 Brydon Carse, 9 Liam Dawson, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Luke Wood.<\/p>\n It\u2019s early for a Saturday morning here in Blighty but if you are tuning in then give us a shout <\/a>in the usual way.<\/p>\nJames Wallace<\/p>\n