England won the toss and chose to bowl vs New Zealand
Carse, who has played nine ODIs since making his first international appearance in the Covid-affected series against Pakistan in July 2021, was originally drafted into the squad as an injury replacement for another rookie fast bowler, John Turner. However, he was presented with England T20I cap No. 100 before the start of play, and will link up with the left-arm quick Luke Wood as England look to expand their bench-strength ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup.
Another uncapped prospect, Gus Atkinson, will have to wait his turn for a first England appearance, after he was given an extra few days to prepare after featuring in Oval Invincibles’ victory in the Men’s Hundred on Sunday night.
At the top of the order, England have opted for a blend of old and new, with Jonny Bairstow restored to the opening berth for which he had been earmarked at last year’s T20 World Cup triumph, until his freak leg injury forced him to miss the entire winter’s campaign.
Bairstow will be joined at the top of the order by Will Jacks, another Oval Invincibles trophy-winner, who has been given a chance to reprise his success in the Hundred and for Surrey in the T20 Blast, with England’s captain Jos Buttler slipping down the order to No. 5. Harry Brook, perhaps the man with the most to prove after his shock omission from the 50-over World Cup plans, is slated to come in at No. 4.
For New Zealand, Finn Allen and Devon Conway reprise the role they played at the top of the order for Southern Brave earlier this month, and there’s a host of other Hundred performers slotting into their XI – among them, Adam Milne, who claimed three wickets in his first ten balls in a fiery display for Birmingham Phoenix last week.
There is no place as yet, however, for Kyle Jamieson, who made his comeback from a long-standing back injury in the UAE earlier this month, but has been rested at this stage of the series.
England: 1 Will Jacks, 2 Jonny Bairstow, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Harry Brook, 5 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Liam Livingstone, 8 Sam Curran, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Brydon Carse, 11 Luke Wood
New Zealand: 1 Devon Conway (wk), 2 Finn Allen, 3 Tim Seifert (wk), 4 Glenn Phillips, 5 Mark Chapman, 6 Daryl Mitchell, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Adam Milne, 9 Ish Sodhi, 10 Tim Southee (capt), 10 Lockie Ferguson
Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket