2026 ENG vs NZ 2nd Test Playing 11: Joe Root-led England will square off against Tom Latham-led New Zealand in the 2nd test on June 17 at Kennington Oval, London.
England secured a 1-0 lead after a win in the first match and will be aiming for a win to make a movement in the WTC 2025-27 points table.
Speaking at the toss, England captain Joe Root said, “We’re going to bowl first. I want to make the best use of the surface. I think it’s a great opportunity for our attack to get out there and carry on the great work that we did last week. It’s been a tumultuous week.”
It’s good to be back there, but no, seriously, the guys have been amazing this week. They’ve been very calm. It feels like they’re in a really good space going into this. So I’m very much looking forward to them, seeing them go out and do the business and show everyone what we’ve had to answer there.”
Speaking on today’s england playing 11, Root said, “Some debuts and obviously a relatively inexperienced bowling attack. Very excited. As I said, there’s huge amounts of skill and excitement around what they can deliver.”
“And I think the fact that they’re inexperienced means that there’s not a lot of knowledge for the opposition either to know what they’re going to bring to the table. So, you know, they’re a full-hearted team that’s going to give everything and very much looking forward to seeing them get into it.”
A toss win for England and the BLACKCAPS are batting first at the Oval 🏏
Henry Nicholls comes into the XI.
Watch play LIVE in NZ on @skysportnz or audio commentary via the talkSPORT Cricket YouTube Channel 📺 LIVE scoring at https://t.co/3YsfR1Y3Sm 📲 pic.twitter.com/JeDAg49haA
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) June 17, 2026
Meanwhile, New Zealand captain Tom Latham said, “Yeah, we’re going to have a bowl first. I think it’s just tradition here. Teams tend to bowl first given the conditions and the surface. But it looks a reasonably good wicket, and it’s important that we start well.”
“I thought we did a lot of good things throughout that Test match. I think the surface obviously dictated a lot of things. But for us, it’s about trying to do things for a fraction longer.”
“That’s something we’ve spoken about this week, hanging in there, building partnerships, whether it’s with the bat or with the ball, and just trying to do our things for long periods of time. Yeah, it’s been an emotional week since we got the news.”
“He (Kane Williamson) leaves a fantastic legacy for this group. The runs and wickets speak for themselves, but I think what he’s done for this group over a long period of time, the direction he’s taken the team in, certainly when he was captain and since stepping down, the experience he has and the wealth of knowledge he brings.”
“He loves the team and cares so much about it. We’re obviously disappointed not to have him here now, but we understand his decision and we’re excited about what lies ahead for him in the next chapter,” concluded Tom Latham.
2026 ENG vs NZ 2nd Test Playing 11
England Playing 11: Ben Duckett, Emilio Gay, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root(c), Harry Brook, James Rew(w), Jordan Cox, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue, Matthew Fisher, Sonny Baker
New Zealand Playing 11: Tom Latham(c), Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell(w), Glenn Phillips, Nathan Smith, Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, William ORourke
