Cricket Betting Tips For 2026 - New Zealand vs England 2nd Test

England won the first Test match by 115 runs, but off-field drama threatens to overshadow things for the home side. How will the second match shake out?

Wasn’t the first Test an interesting one? New Zealand would have thought they were in the box seat, bowling out England for just 140 in the first innings. But total chaos is what followed with the bowler-friendly pitch, meaning every batter struggled massively. New Zealand ended up losing that Test by 115 runs!

Just like we did for the first Test, we’re back once again to take a deep dive into all the stats and data you need to know for this game. Before you lock in your cricket betting tips, make sure you see what our experts have to say!

Odds thanks to Betista (accurate at time of publication).

New Zealand

With all the drama around England, we can’t forget about Kane Williamson! Considered one of New Zealand's best batters, he announced his retirement from international cricket, with immediate effect. This is interesting timing, considering we are smack bang in the middle of a three-game series with England.

With the loss of the experienced Kane Williamson, captain Tom Latham will need to rally his troops. The likes of Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra will both need to provide stability to what is now a shaky batting lineup. Will Young gets the call-up and will filter in at the critical number three position.

Matt Henry will be the key bowler for the Black Caps. He has taken 36 wickets in his last seven Tests. Meanwhile, Nathan Smith does come into this one in some form, after taking nine wickets in the last game at Lord’s. I’m not overly thrilled that they don’t come into this one with a frontline spinner, though.

England

England just really can’t shake the off-field drama, can they? After multiple incidents in Australia during The Ashes, both Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson were in the headlines again, all for the wrong reasons. They have both been dropped for this game, causing a massive shakeup to the playing 11.

All that drama has taken the shine off England’s 115-run win in the first Test. That was a Test that was interrupted by rain, but still only took a couple of days. Joe Root is the captain for this one and will be looking to bounce back from a score of one and eight in the first Test.

It looks like The Oval is the place to do it for Joe Root, though. He averages 44.14 in Tests at The Oval, and this includes three centuries and four fifties in just 12 matches! With the ball, it looks like Josh Tongue should lead the way once again. He took five wickets at Lord’s, but don’t forget who’s back: Jofra Archer.

Before this series, the last time New Zealand and England played each other in a Test match was back in 2024. That was a three-game series, where England were the convincing winners in the first two matches, but the Black Caps came back to win. In the first Test of this series, England won by 115 runs.

The most vital trends that you should be aware of leading into this match: 

• England has won just one of its last 17 Test matches with Joe Root as the captain.
• Ollie Robinson (for England) was the player of the match last time out, taking seven wickets (and scoring 30 runs).
• The highest score in the previous Test was 57 by debutant Emilio Gay (off 95 balls).

A lot will ride on how England responds to the chaos. Drama seems to follow them around wherever they go, but most of it is their own making. Joe Root does bring a sense of calm and consistency, which will be helpful, but as I already mentioned, he has only won one of his last 17 Tests as captain! I think the conditions still favour the home team, but this one surely has to be closer compared to last time out.

I don’t really want to pick a winner; England are shaky, and I don’t think there’s a lot of value in them as the current head-to-head favourites. So, I’m leaning towards the total first innings runs of England opener Emilio Gay. Last time out, he did well in the second innings, but only scored eight in the first innings. He is still a newbie and will have a lot of pressure on him.

Take Emilio Gay total runs (first innings) under 24.5 @ $1.83.

The build-up to this Test has been dramatic, to say the least. Both teams will have to put that to one side and simply focus on the cricket. Both teams will have a different lineup for this clash, and I think the home conditions may be too much for New Zealand once again. Hopefully, this game will last longer than the last! Before all the action kicks off, make sure you get your bets sorted and check to see if there are any betting promotions available for this game to get more bang for your buck.