England will play against New Zealand in the deciding Test match in Auckland on March 22. The rains had hampered the games in Dunedin and Wellington resulting in matches being drawn.
The one thing that would bother the English team is the injury worries. Kevin Pietersen has been forced to pull out of the deciding Test match due to knee injury which could threaten his participation in this summer’s Ashes and also the lucrative contract with the Indian Premier League franchise the Delhi Daredevils.
With Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann already being sidelined due to injuries, the England team will be quite concerned as they take on the might Australian team this summer.
Jonny Bairstow will be replacing Pietersen in the decider game. He is a talented player and will look forward to displaying a good performance and impress the selectors to cement his spot for the future games.
According to the Eden Park groundsman, the pitch is bound to see more bouncy and carry that was not seen in the first two Tests and believes that both the teams will enjoy playing on it. This would probably produce a result in the deciding match.
The Kiwis on the other hand, look positive and will not be playing this game for a draw. The drop-in-pitch could work in their favour in upsetting the in-form England team. They have also had good success rates in these pitches and will look at capitalizing on the same.
New Zealand have some renowned players in their team who can take the game away from the opposition on any given day.
They need to click as a unit if they have to upset the visitors in the crucial game. Kane Williamson could be the key player for the home side as he has been very promising and this could be the right opportunity to prove his abilities.
The England team look more polished in winning this crunch game. New Zealand cannot be sidelined as they are playing in their home ground and have gelled better at home. This will definitely turn out to be an exciting contest.
Probable Teams:
New Zealand: Peter Fulton, Hamish Rutherford, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Dean Brownlie, Brendon McCullum (captain), BJ Watling, Doug Bracewell, Tim Southee, Bruce Martin, Neil Wagner.
England: Alastair Cook (captain), Nick Compton, Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Matt Prior, Stuart Broad, Steve Finn, James Anderson, Monty Panesar.