New Zealand vs England: 3 English players to watch out for in the T20I series

After having a successful run in the World Cup 2019, England are set to begin their white-ball campaign again. England have completely transformed their brand of cricket in the last 3-4 years, which helped them in lifting their first-ever World Cup trophy in the 50-over format. Now, they are eying T20 World Cup 2020 under the leadership of the same captain – Eoin Morgan but a different coach – Chris Silverwood. The English side is scheduled to play a 5-match T20 series in New Zealand.

Although the Eoin Morgan-led team won the World Cup at their home, they should start with a fresh mindset. There are a few holes to fill in, both in the batting unit and in the bowling attack. They have to find one or two finisher(s), a back-up death-over specialist, an attacking middle-order batsman, and a spin reserve for Adil Rashid. Keeping the T20 World Cup in view, the English selectors have taken the right calls.

The main players in England’s T20 set-up like Jos Buttler, Jason Roy, Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes are rested for this series. The return of the opening batsman – Alex Hales is unknown, even though his ban is over. The youngsters like Tom Banton, Pat Brown, Saqib Mahmood and Matt Parkinson have been rewarded with the places in the squad.

In this article, we have featured three English players to watch out for in the T20I series against New Zealand:

Tom Banton

The swashbuckling opener Tom Banton is a new sensation in the T20 cricket, because of his dream run in the domestic circuit, this year. Banton who made his List A debut in 2018, was the second-best batsman of his side in the domestic One-Day Cup 2019. Playing 11 matches, the young lad accumulated 454 runs with an average of 41.27 and an excellent strike rate of over 94. Having scored two tons and three fifties, he had most 50+ scores and topped the boundary charts (sixes and fours combined) in the tourney.

The thing which has stood out for Banton is that he plays quick knocks, that too consistently. The 20-year-old is a superb player of pace bowling, as he has the capability of playing reverse sweeps and playing scoop shots against quicks. The dashing batsman is already being compared with Kevin Pietersen for his demeanour, and with Jos Buttler for his innovative batting. He is also a good player of spin which was also evident in the T20 Blast.

Following his heroics in the One-Day Cup, he took one step ahead in the T20 Blast 2019. Banton was the second-highest scorer in the tournament, finishing just 29 runs behind Babar Azam, his opening partner. The right-handed batsman who represents Somerset in the domestic cricket has been awarded a place in the national side, and deservedly so. Tom has also signed a deal with Brisbane Heat, a team in the Big Bash League for the upcoming edition which should help him only get better.