The fourth instalment of this peculiar end-of-summer bilateral series offers England a chance to keep their winning run going ahead of the looming 50-over World Cup.
Jos Buttler's side were well beaten in the opening contest at Cardiff, which the Black Caps clinched by eight wickets with more than four overs to spare.
But the home side bounced back to level in a rain-shortened clash at Southampton before Ben Stokes' brutal knock of 182 saw them to a convincing victory at The Oval on Wednesday.
- England to win
- Joe Root to be England's top batter
- Reece Topley to be England's top bowler
WATCH IN THE ZONE - JASON ROBINSON
England's Attack Gives The Edge
A one-day international at Lord's is a pretty rare event given that there have been only two staged at the home of cricket since England's memorable victory over the Kiwis in the 2019 World Cup final, secured after a Super Over and boundary countback.
The Three Lions won them both, a second-string squad beating Pakistan by 52 runs amid a coronavirus outbreak in July 2021 and a full-strength line-up trouncing India by 100 runs a year later.
Each of the three matches in the current series have been one-sided with the feel of warm-up games where the result matters little in the grand scheme of things.
But England needed to respond after losing the final two T20 internationals and the opening game of this series.
Buttler's team have done that with back-to-back wins that have silenced many of the doubts and quibbles over selection and tactics.
They have the momentum to win again on Friday and should see off a demoralised New Zealand team who have had some flaws in their make-up exposed.
Root Needs Runs
One player who still needs to get some runs on the board before boarding the plane to India is Joe Root, who looks set to hold down the pivotal number three position in England's batting order at the World Cup.
The Yorkshireman has scored just ten runs in three innings during the series and could do with some spending some time in the middle at Lord's.
Root usually plays well at the ground, however, and made his highest score of The Hundred this year at Lord's where he scored 72 not out for Trent Rockets against London Spirit last month.
Two of the top five highest totals in the latest edition of the 100-ball competition were amassed at Lord's, which suggests it could be a good surface for batters to exploit once they get in. And Root is a master at working it into gaps all around the square.
Topley Can Topple Black Cats
While Stokes's bludgeoning of the New Zealand attack dominated the headlines on Wednesday, the performance of the England bowling unit was equally key to getting the win.
Without first-choice paceman Mark Wood and leading spinner Adil Rashid, Buttler's bowlers skittled the Kiwis for a paltry 187 with most of the hard work done by the men up front.
Chasing an imposing 369-run victory total, New Zealand never got their innings off the ground and were 36-3 at the end of the mandatory Powerplay.
Chris Woakes and Reece Topley did the damage with the Warwickshire all-rounder, who finished with figures of 3-31, picking up the early wickets of Will Young and Henry Nicholls.
Woakes has a great record in all formats at Lord's, but Topley made it onto the honours board with a six-wicket haul against India last year and could go well again on this occasion.
