England v New Zealand predictions and cricket betting tips: Hosts can edge a win

Free cricket tips, best bets and analysis for the second Test between England and New Zealand at Edgbaston on Thursday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Cricket, 11am Thursday

Best bets

England
2pts 13-10 Hills

Henry Nicholls to score a first-innings fifty
2pts 3-1 Hills

Team news

England
Ollie Robinson is suspended. Jack Leach is likely to return to the 11 and fellow spinner Dom Bess has been added to the squad.

New Zealand
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson will miss the game in order to rest an irritated left elbow with Tom Latham to skipper the side. Fast bowler Trent Boult is available after coming out of quarantine.

Second Test preview

England resisted the temptation to play to the crowd in the first Test against New Zealand at Lord's but they could send their fans home happy in the series decider at Edgbaston.

Kiwi captain Kane Williamson dangled a victory target of 275 from 75 overs on the final day at HQ but England were content to bat out for a draw as opener Dom Sibley faced 207 balls for his unbeaten 60.

Home skipper Joe Root justified that unpopular approach afterwards, saying that the pitch was not conducive to quick runscoring, but England's first-innings collapse from 111-2 to 140-6 must also have played on his mind.

England have won six of their last eight Test matches at Edgbaston yet they are only slight favourites to beat the tourists.

That is testament to the quality of New Zealand, who go on to play India in the World Test Championship final at the Rose Bowl next week, although the absence of key England players such as Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes is also a factor.

Ollie Robinson has joined the list of absentees as he serves a suspension for historical Twitter misdemeanours following an impressive Test debut in which he claimed seven wickets and scored an important 42 in the first innings.

Robinson and the pacy Mark Wood picked up the bulk of the wickets at Lord's but Stuart Broad and James Anderson bowled better than their figures suggest and the experienced pair should be a handful at Edgbaston.

Anderson has taken 44 wickets in 11 Tests in Birmingham, while Broad has 35 in eight and the return of specialist spinner Jack Leach should give England a better-balanced attack.

New Zealand can welcome back Trent Boult to the bowling unit who impressed at Lord's but they too suffered a middle-order batting collapse, slipping from 288-3 to 338-9.

Debutant Devon Conway was the last man out for a magnificent 200 but he received excellent support from number five Henry Nicholls, who continued his fine Test form with an innings of 61.

That was Nicholls's fourth consecutive first-innings half-century after winter scores of 174, 56 and 157 against the West Indies and Pakistan and the 3-1 that he reaches 50 again is a big price.

However, with the two-Test series on the line, Nicholls and his teammates can expect a more proactive performance from England than the home side gave on a soporific final day at Lord's.

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