ENG vs NZ | Bethell remains at no. 3 as England announces unchanged XI for second Test
England youngster Jacob Bethell will continue to bat at a responsible position of no. 3 after England’s convincing triumph against New Zealand in the first Test at the Hagley Oval, Christchurch. Vice-captain Ollie Pope will continue to bat in the lower-middle order and don the keeping gloves.
"They always say when you don't notice a keeper he's done a good job and Ollie certainly did that. He was brilliant last week, stepping into a role he hasn't done a lot of. Obviously, he can keep and has done previously for England, but to step up at short notice like that and do the job he did was fantastic. For him to score runs just shows his character, putting his hand up for the team without any fuss and cracking on. to move to number six, get such a good score for us, and contribute to a big partnership was massive,” Chris Woakes expressed.
Both captains Ben Stokes and Tom Latham have been docked three demerit points, and all the players from both teams were penalized 15% of the match fees due to a slow over-rate. They were short by three overs each. Although the penalties would not mean much to England, who are already out of contention for the World Test Championship Final, they could be a defining factor in the Kiwis' hopes of finishing top two.
Currently, New Zealand are positioned fifth in the league table with 47.92 percentage points while the Three Lions are stationed sixth with 42.50 percentage points. The second Test starts on December 6 at 3:30 AM IST.
England Playing XI for second Test: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ollie Pope (wk), Ben Stokes (capt), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Shoaib Bashir
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