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The New Zealand cricket team will host that of England at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Friday afternoon, local time, for the first of five T20 matches.
In the United States, the match will start Thursday at 9 p.m. ET. It won’t be on TV anywhere in the US, but can watch the match live right here on ESPN+, the digital streaming service from ESPN that has exclusive coverage of the entire England tour of New Zealand, plus dozens of other live sports, all the 30-for-30 documentaries and other original content for $4.99 per month.
You can sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then watch a live stream of New Zealand vs England on your computer via ESPN.com, or on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or other streaming device via the ESPN app.
New Zealand vs England 1st T20 Preview
In July, England bested the Black Caps at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London for their first Cricket World Cup title.
With an eye toward the 2020 T20 World Cup, England will carry a youthful roster for the five T20 matches, as experienced players Jason Roy, Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, and Moeen Ali rest.
“I think it does feel like the start of that journey towards the T20 World Cup,” 30-year-old opener Jonny Bairstow said, according to ESPNcricinfo. “It’s going to come around thick and fast. Seeing guys who’ve played county cricket taking the step up to international cricket is going to be fascinating. That, coupled with the guys that are not on this tour but will come back into the team, there’s going to be competition for places.
“The cycle for the 50-over World Cup started four years ago. Hopefully we’re fortunate enough that the way we’ve played our 50-over cricket will lead us well into our T20 cricket.
“It’s a fascinating period to be playing cricket for England. There’s some very, very talented guys that have played a lot of cricket now for England that are all together and have the experience of going through the ups, the downs and everything in between.”
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson will miss the series with a hip injury. Black Caps left-arm fast-medium bowler Trent Boult will sit out the first three T20 matches to rest for a pair of Test matches between the sides at the end of November.
“They’re dangerous no matter what,” Bairstow said, per ESPNcricinfo. “We’ll be expecting a very tough challenge and that’s every time you play against New Zealand because they’ve got quality all the way through. They are a great bunch of fellas but naturally what happened at Lord’s is going to be quite tough for those guys and there will be a fire in their belly and a hunger to put things right.”
Williamson aggravated a recurring hip injury while representing Northern Districts in the opening round of the 2019-20 Plunket Shield season last week. It’s unclear if he’ll be fit for next month’s Tests.
“We’ve been monitoring the injury for a while now and it’s the same issue that ruled him out of the final Test against Bangladesh in March,” New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said, according to The Guardian. “It’s disappointing timing for Kane at the start of an exciting Kiwi summer but we feel it’s the right decision with a busy season ahead.”