New Zealand Vs South Africa 1st Test Match Prediction

Preview

New Zealand Vs South Africa is a rivalry that has a lot of volume in Rugby. In Cricket the rivalry is there a touch, especially after the encounter between both sides in the 2015 World Cup. The New Zealand Vs South Africa rivalry in Test Cricket though isn’t much to talk about.

South Africa have won most of the Test encounters between the two sides with New Zealand only managing four wins in their Test history against South Africa. They don’t play each other two often, and last faced off in 2017. Since then South Africa went through a lot of changes and only have four members from that squad in this series.

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New Zealand come into this series in a similar position that South Africa faced back then. Ross Taylor is retired, Williamson is injured and the likes of Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner are in their 30s. Despite the age and injuries, New Zealand aren’t doing as bad in transition as South Africa.

An interesting feature coming into this game is the number of seamers in the squads. Both sides have 14 seamers together, and a lot of movement with the ball is expected across the two Tests.

Match Details:

Match: New Zealand Vs South Africa

Date: February 17^th– February 21^st 2022

Time: 3:30 AM, IST

Venue: Christchurch

Weather Report

The weather for the New Zealand Vs South Africa test is expected to be clear through the game. Temperatures will be in the low 20s with mild sunlight through the game, and there is a chance of rain on the third day of the New Zealand Vs South Africa Test.

Pitch Report

New Zealand generally dishes out green tops and moist pitches for their opponents. There is going to be a lot of seam movement and very little spin as a result. South Africa though, has a nice pace attack, and they may not be as easy to roll aside with seam alone.

Team News

Devon Conway will bat at number three and Henry Nicholas will take Ross Taylor’s position at number four. Four pacers will be used while Matt Henry will come in for Trent Boult who is on paternity leave.

South Africa will be without Keegan Peterson for the upcoming as he tested positive before leaving South Africa. There are also a bunch of new faces in the South African team, who are likely to come in.

New Zealand Vs South Africa Predicted XIs

New Zealand Predicted XI

New Zealand: (probable) 1 Tom Latham (capt), 2 Will Young, 3 Devon Conway, 4 Henry Nicholls, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Tom Blundell (wk), 7 Colin de Grandhomme, 8 Kyle Jamieson, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Neil Wagner, 11 Matt Henry

South Africa Predicted XI

South Africa: (probable) 1 Dean Elgar (capt), 2 Aiden Markram, 3 Sarel Erwee 4 Rassie van der Dussen, 5 Temba Bavuma, 6 Kyle Verreynne (wk), 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Kagiso Rabada 10 Duanne Olivier, 11 Lungi Ngidi

Key Players

Aiden Markram

Aiden Markram hasn’t been among the runs for a while and the upcoming series will be important for his career. He needs runs to save himself from going back to domestic cricket, but will have to score in one of the toughest conditions for batting.

Devon Conway

Devon Conway comes into this game at number three, and will have to step up with the likes of Williamson injured. He has gotten off to a dream start in international cricket, and is wonderful player. His timing is good, and he has adds a lot of value, and will be important in New Zealand’s bid to improve their return against South Africa.

New Zealand Vs South Africa Match Tips

Although South Africa have a great record against New Zealand in Tests, the recent record of New Zealand at home has been good enough to give them the edge. Both sides have strong pacers but South Africa are still in transition.

Match Prediction: New Zealand will win the match.