Over-by-over updates from the first day’s play at Bay OvalRoot hopes Moeen will make Test return in South AfricaEmail Tim here or tweet him @TimdeLisle 7.10pm GMT
Evening everyone, morning everyone else, and welcome to the OBO’s first Test series of 2019-20. It’s only two games and it doesn’t count towards the new Test Championship, but apart from that it’s looking worthy of a few exclamation marks. Two teams that have become inseparable! Jofra Archer’s first Test overseas! Dominic Sibley’s international debut! The return of Kane Williamson! And Ollie Pope! Chris Silverwood’s first Test as coach! Mount Maunganui’s first Test full stop! Seven hours without having to think about Prince Andrew!
The forecast is for 20 degrees and “sunny to partly cloudy”, which should make both sides feel at home. To sunny and cloudy we can probably add windy and noisy, as Maunganui, which becomes only the ninth Test venue in New Zealand, is perched on a promontory, next to an airport.
England played
New Zealand there only last year, and won. But that was Eoin Morgan’s one-day team, buccaneering for Blighty. This is the Test side, under a new boss who wants them to remember how to be boring. It will be fascinating to see if they manage it.