Kiwis Depart For England For WTC Final vs India, Tests vs Host

The New Zealand men's cricket team departed for England on Saturday night to play a two-Test series, followed by the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final against the Virat Kohli-captained India.

While the Black Caps will play the first Test against the hosts from June 2 in London, the second Test will commence in Birmingham on June 10. The Kiwis will then take on India in WTC final at Southampton from June 18. New Zealand Cricket (NZC) posted pictures of the departing team on twitter and instagram.

"London on Getting set. After two Lincoln camps, our New Zealand-based players heading to England! The squad will travel to Southampton on arrival in England to prepare for the first Test against @englandcricket starting at the @homeofcricket (Lord's) on the 2nd of June," NZC said on instagram.

The Blackcaps had made Lincoln, on the South Island, as its final training base before the journey. This will be the last tour for New Zealan's wicketkeeper-batsman, 35-year-old BJ Watling, who recently announced that he was retiring from competitive cricket. Watling represented New Zealand in 73 Tests, 28 ODIs and five T20Is.

The squad: Kane Williamson (captain), Tom Blundell, Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Doug Bracewell, Devon Conway, Colin de Grandhomme, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling, and Will Young