Preview: England vs New Zealand, 2nd T20I

New Zealand will be bringing the curtain down on a roller-coaster summer as they look to clean-sweep England in the final T20I at the Oval. Ever since arriving in England, New Zealand have had to endure the 2-0 humiliation in the Tests, followed by the high of the 2-1 ODI series victory and a first round exit from the Champions Trophy. This tour has once again shown the sporadic nature of New Zealand cricket. Poor at the start, wonderful in the middle but fading away towards the end. England, on the other hand, are still recovering from the debacle of their Champions Trophy final loss to India. Another loss in today's match and they will be heading into the Ashes low on confidence.TEAM NEWS: ENGLANDThe arrival of Kevin Pietersen for this match is sure to galvanize England into a force. Pietersen's knee injury kept him out of the game for three months and he roared back in style with a blazing 177 against Yorkshire. He will once again be the key player for them if they are to build momentum as they head into the Ashes. The England batting looks settled and the performances of Alex Hales, Luke Wright and Ravi Bopara were noteworthy. Wright has been in sparkling form in T20I since the 2012 World Cup but England will need a collective effort if they are to counter New Zealand's varied bowling attack. The bowling is one area of concern for England. Barring Boyd Rankin who picked up a wicket on debut in his first over, the rest of the bowling presented a sorry picture. Chris Woakes gave away 19 runs in his only over that day and he might not make the cut for the second match. James Tredwell, Jade Dernbach and Ben Stokes proved to be ineffective. This could result in changes in the bowling, with the possibility of Danny Briggs coming in for this match. TEAM NEWS: NEW ZEALANDHamish Rutherford was the star performer with the bat in the first T20I as his power-packed 62 laid the platform for a huge score. Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor showed good form, making the batting order look more stable. On the other hand, the opening slot is a cause of concern for New Zealand. Martin Guptill has still not overcome his hamstring problem and it is unlikely that he will be part of today's fixture as well. This gives James Franklin, who was out for a duck in the first match, another opportunity. There are few problems with the New Zealand bowling though they will be looking to tighten their bowling at the start of the innings. Mitchell McClenaghan continues to impress while Ian Butler also played a vital hand. Although Ronnie Hira and Nathan McCullum struggled in the first match, they will look for an improved show in today's encounter. Considering England's weakness against spin, they will be confident of making some inroads. STAT ATTACK- Luke Wright has scored the most runs in T20Is against New Zealand. In 10 matches, he has scored 273 runs at an average of 30.3 and a strike rate of 158.72 - New Zealand's 201/4 in the first match is their highest ever score against England in T20Is. Their previous highest was 192/6 at Hamilton in 2013.