On 7th February, New Zealand will take on Great Britain for the first time in the second season of Hockey Pro League Men’s. The match will set in motion at 5 AM (IST) in North Harbour Hockey Stadium, Auckland. Great Britain finished the last season by securing seventh spot, while New Zealand occupied the eighth position on the points table. Great Britain has confronted the defending champions Australia two times so far in the tournament, ending up with one humiliating loss (5-1) and one drawn (4-4). New Zealand, at the same time, locked horns with Belgium on two occasions in this edition, concluding with major defeats (2-6, 1-3). Both the teams are looking for their first win of this tournament.
As per head to head stats, New Zealand and Great Britain have met on 4 occasions. The former has not won a single match, while the latter has won three contests with one drawn. Black Sticks managed to hit only 6 goals, meanwhile, team GB scored 13 goals in total.
After this encounter, NZ and GB will meet again on 9th February at 7:30 at the same venue in Auckland.
Probable Playing XI
New Zealand
Blair Tarrant (C), Jacob Smith, Nick Ross, Jared Panchia, R Joyce, Dane Lett, Stephen Jenness, Simon Child, Shea McAleese, Kane Russell, Nic Woods
Great Britain
Adam Dixon (C), Harry Martin, Asley Jackson, Harry Gibson, Alan Forsyth, James Gall, Jacob Draper, Christopher Griffiths, Ian Sloan, Thomas Sorsby, Zachary Wallace
Key Players
New Zealand
Blair Tarrant
Nick Ross
Great Britain
Adam Dixon
Harry Gibson