NED vs NZ Prediction: Who will win the 2nd T20I?

The Netherlands and New Zealand will lock horns against each other in the second and final T20I of the two-match series on August 5 (Friday). This will also mark the end of the European tour for New Zealand where they have kept a 100% win record so far. The touring party would love to end the tour on a high with a dominating win.

However, the series opener didn’t go as planned in terms of domination for the Kiwis. They were restricted to just 148 runs by the home team.

Martin Guptill scored 45 runs while James Neesham (32 off 17) and Ish Sodhi (19 off 10) contributed valuable runs at the back end of the innings to propel the side to 148 in their 20 overs.

In response, the Netherlands only had Bas de Leede fighting it out in the middle with a spirited 66-run knock. None of the other batters crossed the 20-run mark, while only two of them managed to reach double-digits.

Blair Tickner and Ben Sears shared seven wickets between them to wreck havoc in the opposition camp as the Kiwis won the game by 16 runs in the end.

Meanwhile, the second and final T20I is the last opportunity for the Netherlands to put up a fight and stun New Zealand. They will be happy with themselves in the series opener and will want better their brave efforts from the last match.

Will Netherlands (NED) beat New Zealand (NZ) in 2nd T20I?

It was yet another case of being so close yet so far for a lower-ranked nation in the first T20I. Ireland came close (thrice) to beating New Zealand in the ODI series and now the Netherlands also seem to falling just short of an elusive victory.

New Zealand, meanwhile, have been extremely professional with their cricket. They haven’t taken any team lightly and that has been the reason for their 100% win record on this tour.

Prediction: New Zealand are expected to win this encounter.