Last Updated on 3 weeks by Charbel Coorey

ENG vs NZ 1st Test Dream11 Prediction & Fan2Play Possible 11 Pitch Report | ENG vs NZ 1st Test Dream11 Prediction Today | England vs New Zealand 1st Test Key Players | Lord’s Pitch Report

The new era officially begins. Ben Stokes’ reign as England skipper and Brendon McCullum’s as coach gets underway against the nation of their birth in a highly anticipated start to the English Test summer.

The key question will be whether they can make an immediate impact. There is little doubt of their desire to play on the front foot and attack, evidenced by Stokes’ style of play over the years and Brendon McCullum as a player and coach for New Zealand. However, whether the team can fight through periods of adversity will be of focus, with the home side tasting victory just once in their past 17 Tests going way back to their win in Chennai nearly 18 months ago.

And the Black Caps, despite their humbling defeat in the recent tour match, are capable of applying the blowtorch. They won the World Test Championship on English soil last year after beating England 1-0 in an accomplished display of Test cricket. However, while Ben Stokes is looking to make an impression on one side, so too is the established Kane Williamson, with the Black Caps’ skipper struggling to find his best form across formats in recent times.

If the Black Caps click into gear right away, they’ll be tough to stop. However, if they start slowly, England’s attitude under the new regime might elevate them to bigger and better things. A good start at Lord’s will be key.

ENG vs NZ 1st Test 2022 Possible Playing 11

England have confirmed their XI for the Test. Ollie Pope will bat at three and Matthew Potts will debut. Also, after being left out of England’s squad for the tour of West Indies, Stuart Broad and James Anderson are back.

England: 1. Alex Lees, 2. Zak Crawley, 3. Ollie Pope, 4. Joe Root, 5. Ben Stokes (c), 6. Jonny Bairstow, 7. Ben Foakes (wk), 8. Matthew Potts, 9. Jack Leach, 10. Stuart Broad, 11. James Anderson

As of Wednesday, Trent Boult is still considered a chance to play in the Test despite reports that he was unlikely to feature (details here). He played in the IPL 2022 Final that only finished late on Sunday night.

Daryl Mitchell will bat at five as Henry Nicholls has been ruled out with a calf injury.

New Zealand: 1. Tom Latham, 2. Devon Conway, 3. Kane Williamson (c), 4. Will Young, 5. Daryl Mitchell, 6. Colin de Grandhomme, 7. Tom Blundell (wk), 8. Tim Southee, 9. Matt Henry/Ajaz Patel/Trent Boult, 10. Kyle Jamieson, 11. Neil Wagner

Key Players to Watch/Key Stats

England:

• Joe Root without the burden of captaincy is a dangerous proposition for New Zealand. He has solid but unspectacular numbers against the Black Caps by his standards (992 runs, avg. 41.33). The average bumps up to 43.58 at home.
• Root has the fourth-most runs of any player at Lord’s. The classy batsman, who struck 1,708 Test runs in 2021, has 1,484 runs at an average of 53.00 in 16 innings on this ground.
• Ben Stokes will be vital to England’s hopes. The new captain has six 50+ scores in seven Tests at Lord’s at an overall average of 47.66 (572 runs). Against New Zealand, Stokes has scored 476 runs in six Tests at an average of 43.27.
• Also, Stokes struck scores of 161 and 82 for Durham earlier this month.
• Jonny Bairstow has struck two Test centuries so far in 2022. Also, he is just 83 runs away from 1,000 at Lord’s. He currently averages 43.66 in 13 Tests on this ground.
• James Anderson and Stuart Broad are back. Anderson is the only bowler with at least 100 wickets at Lord’s (avg. 24.57) and averages 26.07 against New Zealand at home. Broad is close behind with 95 wickets at Lord’s at an average of 24.57 and averages 26.31 vs NZ in England.
• Matthew Potts has taken 35 wickets this County season at an average of 18.57. He is capable of touching speeds of 140km/h.

New Zealand:

• Devon Conway struck a memorable double century on Test debut on this ground one year ago. He made scores of just 4 and 5 in the tour match, so he will be looking for a quick turnaround in fortunes.
• Kane Williamson averages below 40 against England (39.84) and 32.90 in six Tests in England. His lone century in this country did come at Lord’s. Can he deliver in this Test?
• Tom Latham has a terrible record against Stuart Broad. The left-hander has been dismissed by Broad eight times for 118 runs in 255 deliveries. Expect Broad to test him from around the wicket right away. If Latham can get through the initial period, he is capable of going big.
• Tim Southee took 6/43 on this ground a year ago. He has 20 wickets in four Tests at Lord’s (avg. 25.65) and 57 wickets in 14 Tests vs England (avg. 30.14).
• Matt Henry is a much-improved bowler in Test cricket. He has taken 20 wickets in his past three Tests, including two player of the match performances vs England and South Africa respectively.
• Kyle Jamieson is one to watch with his height, pace and swing. He took 3/85 at Lord’s a year ago, which included the wicket of Joe Root.

Other Stats and Facts

• New Zealand have not lost a Test to England since 2015 (seven Tests).
• Ben Foakes comes into this series in fine touch. He has struck scores of 132*, 45, 63, 48*, 16 and 91 in his last five County matches for Surrey.
• Tim Southee vs Joe Root is a key battle. Root has scored just 180 runs off 427 balls against Southee, and has been dismissed five times by the seamer.
• James Anderson averages 19.1 against Kane Williamson. The seamer has dismissed the NZ captain seven times for 134 runs in 351 deliveries.
• Tom Latham has scored 474 runs in eight Tests vs England at an average of 36.46.
• Ollie Pope struck scores of 84 and 96 in his past two First Class matches for Surrey.

Lord’s Pitch Report and Weather

The forecast for the first two days looks pretty good before some rain is expected across the final three days. In terms of the pitch, it looks to be the kind that will have something on offer early before settling down to be a decent batting track with some nibble for the bowlers from mid-day one onwards.

The average first innings score at Lord’s in the last five Tests is 238.4. This includes totals of 107 by India in 2018 and 85 by England in 2019.

ENG vs NZ 1st Test Dream11 Prediction June 2 2022

Note: The below teams are not based on the final playing XIs. We may not be able to update these in time. Use the stats and commentary in this article as well as your own instincts to create your teams.

Option 1:

Option 2:

Fan2Play Prediction

Base team:

• Wicket-keepers: Jonny Bairstow
• Batsmen: Joe Root, Kane Williamson, Devon Conway
• All-rounders: Ben Stokes
• Bowlers: James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Tim Southee

Match Prediction

Runs on the board batting first will be key. New Zealand start as favourites especially given England’s inexperienced top three.

Rain could impact this Test, so a draw is the most likely result.