New Zealand vs England, 2019: Two-match Test series – Statistical Preview

After clinching the T20I series in a thriller, the England team now looks forward to the two-match Test series against New Zealand. This series is not included in the ICC World Championship but is a crucial one for both teams. New Zealand has been a team to beat in the last two years especially in the longer format. England, on the other hand, peaked in the limited-overs but faced downfall under Joe Root’s captaincy. They managed to win only one overseas Test series in this period and failed to win a home Ashes for the first time in 18 years.

All the key stats and numbers that matter ahead of the series between New Zealand and England:

4 – New Zealand has won each of their last four series at home in Test cricket after losing the series in 2017 against South Africa by 1-0 margin. The Kiwis won four consecutive Test series at home between 1983 and 1986, a feat which they replicated between 2013 and 2015 as well.

6 – New Zealand have not lost any Test series since losing to South Africa at home in 2017. This is their joint-longest streak without a series defeat in Test cricket. They played six consecutive Test series between 2013 and 2015 without losing one.

New Zealand won five consecutive Test series before the recent series in Sri Lanka. It was the first time that the Blackcaps had more than three-Test series wins in succession.

11 – England lost as many as 11 matches in Test cricket across the last 24 months; the most number of Test defeats for any team in this period. England played 26 Test matches since November 2017 and won 12 of those.

38.58 – New Zealand is the only opponent against which Joe Root has a batting average of less than 40. (Min: 5 innings) Root’s average against the Kiwis reads 38.58 while in New Zealand, his average comes down to 25.55; the lowest by him in any country. (Min: 5 innings)

50 – Trent Boult and Tim Southee have claimed 47 and 43 wickets respectively in Test cricket against England. Among New Zealand bowlers, only Sir Richard Hadlee (97) took over 50 Test wickets against the English team.

122 – Stuart Broad and James Anderson featured in all 14 Test matches played between England and New Zealand since 2008. They collectively bagged 122 wickets in those 14 games. However, Anderson has been sidelined for this series due to the injury he suffered during the home season.

Broad, on the other hand, picked up 62 wickets thus far against the Kiwis. He needs three wickets for going past Ian Botham’s tally of 64 Test wickets against New Zealand which are the most by an English bowler.

2008 – The last instance of England winning a Test match in New Zealand was way back in 2008. All the three matches in the 2013 Test series ended in a draw while the Blackcaps won the last year’s two-match series by 1-0 margin. It was only the 2nd instance that the New Zealand team won a Test series at home against England. They won the three-match series in 1984 with a 1-0 scoreline.

2893 – Kane Williamson needs 107 more runs to complete 3000 runs in Test cricket on New Zealand soil. The NZ skipper amassed 2893 runs across 34 home Tests at an average of 59.04 with nine centuries and 16 fifties. Only three players have aggregated 3000+ Test runs in New Zealand thus far. Williamson is also 200 runs away from being the 4th player with 14000 International runs for New Zealand.

16958 – Ross Taylor needs 42 more runs to become the first player to amass 17000 runs in International cricket for New Zealand. Taylor also has a chance of becoming the 2nd player to aggregated 7000 runs in Test cricket for the Blackcaps having scored 6839 runs till date.