New Zealand won the toss and elected to bowl in the crucial fourth Twenty20 international against England in Napier on Friday. England trail 2-1 and need a win to keep the five-match series alive.
New Zealand skipper Tim Southee said the hard Napier wicket was ideal for bowling first. “It looks a good wicket, It usually has a bit of pace in it here,” said.
England’s Eoin Morgan said he was “not bothered” about batting first and expected a better performance from his young side after a batting collapse saw them lose five wickets for 10 runs.
Both sides have made two changes with Trent Boult coming into the New Zealand side for Lockie Ferguson for his first appearance in the series while Daryl Mitchell replaces Jimmy Neesham. For England, Chris Jordan and Jonny Bairstow return to replace Adil Rashid and James Vince.
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Tim Seifert, Colin de Grandhomme, Ross Taylor, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee (capt), Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner, Trent Boult.
England: Jonny Bairstow, Tom Banton, Dawid Malan, James Vince, Eoin Morgan (capt), Sam Billings, Sam Curran, Lewis Gregory, Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, Pat Brown, Matt Parkinson.
Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (NZL) and Shaun Haig (NZL)
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