England won the toss and bat first vs New Zealand
Roy, who missed the first three matches after suffering back spasms, appeared to be fit to take part after his involvement in England’s pre-match warm-ups. However, he has not been risked, with England choosing once again to open with Jonny Bairstow and the in-form Dawid Malan – whose 96 at The Oval appears to have cemented his status as a first-choice pick.
Ben Stokes sits this match out after his emphatic statement of form on Wednesday, when he cracked an England-record 182. Harry Brook is back in his preferred No.4 position after two opportunities as an opener, and has another chance to make his World Cup case after missing out on the provisional 15-man squad earlier this month.
The other notable change is the inclusion of Brydon Carse – another man who was not originally in the ODI set-up, but whose form in the T20Is merited his addition to the squad. He comes in for fellow quick Gus Atkinson, and will fill the mid-innings pitch-hitting role that Liam Plunkett performed with such aplomb in England’s and New Zealand’s last meeting on this ground, in the World Cup final four years ago. David Willey for Chris Woakes is England’s final change.
For New Zealand, Tim Southee and Matt Henry swap in for fellow quicks Lockie Ferguson and Trent Boult. Tom Latham, their captain, admitted that he too would have batted first after losing his first toss of the series, but promised his team would “play our way” regardless.
England: 1 Dawid Malan, 2 Jonny Bairstow, 3 Joe Root, 4 Harry Brook, 5 Jos Buttler (c, wk), 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Liam Livingstone, 8 Sam Curran, 9 David Willey, 10 Brydon Carse, 11 Reece Topley
New Zealand: 1 Will Young, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Henry Nicholls, 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (c, wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Rachin Ravindra, 8 Kyle Jamieson, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Ben Lister
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