England vs New Zealand Prediction: Malan can be the man at Lord’s

England took a 2-1 lead in this four match ODI series, thanks primarily to a certain Mr. Benjamin Stokes, who hit a magnificent national record score of 182. The final international takes place at Lord’s and of course, we have previewed this one for you.

Wow, what an innings that was to witness, from the sublime to the ridiculous, as Ben Stokes silenced any doubters about his return from retirement in a batter-only role, with one of the greatest innings you are likely to see.

182 runs were struck from his mighty blade, some off his one working good leg, as he bludgeoned nine sixes and fifteen fours to break Jason Roy’s England record by two runs.

Now, the English cricket fans must only pray that the Durham man can stay fit and well throughout the World Cup, as he remains the Three Lions star turn.

For New Zealand, it was a heavy 181 defeat and can perhaps be put down to a bad day at the office with the ball, excluding the yet again impressive Trent Boult, who still looks a world class performer for the Black Caps.

They now get another immediate chance to prove their own quality and drag the series back to another 2-2 draw, after the T20 series finished by the same exact scoreline.

Trent Boult top NZ wicket taker – 11/4

New Zealand may have been abject at the Oval but that man Trent Boult was anything but again.

After over 300 days out of the Black Caps set up, due to a refusal to sign a central contract, in preference to playing global franchise cricket, Boult was selected once again ahead of the World Cup and he has certainly taken his chance.

The left armer is simply devastating with the new shiny white kookaburra and he has accrued figures of 8/88 in his first two games back.

Expect him to be amongst the wickets again at Lord’s.

Dawid Malan top Eng run scorer – 9/2

Dawid Malan’s superb 96 was reduced to a mere footnote, due to the stunning innings of Stokes but the Yorkshire player once again showed his class in this format.

The 36-year-old exudes calmness at the top of the order and averages 57 in the 50-over format and over 66 in 2023 alone.

When the more explosive players fail to show up, Malan usually does and I’ll be having a small wager on him top scoring for his country yet again.