NZ vs ENG 2018: England drop Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali for the final Test match

The visiting England team suffered their one of the biggest defeats in the history during the loss to host New Zealand team in the first Test match, which the English side lost by an innings and 49 runs. The England batters performed horrendously in the first innings of the Test match, as they were bowled out for a paltry total of 58 runs, courtesy some remarkable bowling by the Kiwi pair of new ball bowlers, Trent Boult and Tim Southee.

Following the heavy loss, the England captain Joe Root has revealed that both fast bowler Chris Woakes and all-rounder Moeen Ali have been dropped for the second Test match in Christchurch.

Moeen has had his struggles in the recent games: Root

The England Test captain announced that left-arm spinner Jack Leach and fast bowler Mark Wood have been added to the altered list of 12-member squad for the final Test match on Friday. He also mentioned that Moeen has struggled a lot in the recent games to certify his spot in this English team. Ali did not have a good outing at all in the five-match Ashes Test series down under both with the ball and the bat down the batting order and the off-spinner failed miserably to trouble the Kiwi batsmen during the first Test match.

Root went on to state that the all-rounder has still nevertheless got the game to turn things around for him in the upcoming series, but Moeen needs to rediscover the belief and trust in his performance, which is mainly lacking right now. The skipper also mentioned that both these guys will be understanding the need for some improvements and learnings in their respective games.

“It has been a struggle for Mo, but he’s a very talented lad who has done some great things in the not-too-distant past. He’s definitely got the game to turn things around, but it’s making sure he keeps believing in all the good stuff he’s done in the past and trusting his game. I hope sooner rather than later he will get that right. It gives the guys in possession the nudge to know they need to keep improving, keep learning and they’ve got to do it quickly,” said Root as quoted by BBC.

Need to forget the performance displayed in the first match

The English team suffered one of its most disastrous collapses when they got bowled out for 58 runs in the first innings of the first Test match. They came back with some sort of fight to save the match after the rain break wasted some important sessions of the Test, but their last grit was not sufficient enough to draw the game. Root also noted that the whole team is pretty focused on the final match and end the series with a big win.

“We hope we can put right what was a really bad week. The rain made it look a lot better than it was. We know we were well off the mark. It’s about making sure we’re far better than we have been so far on this tour. You can see the focus on the group. Hopefully, we can be absolutely ready for what’s going to be a big five days,” concluded the England Test captain.

Here is England’s 12-member squad for the final Test match in Christchurch: Joe Root (Captain), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince and Mark Wood.

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