The Pakistan team was in a different zone when they faced India on Sunday in Dubai. First Shaheen Afridi rattled the Indian top order and later captain Babar Azam and wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan made a mockery of the chase as they clinched a victory by 10 wickets to send the records for a toss. This was the first time when Pakistan had defeated India in a World Cup fixture.
The way Babar and Rizwan batted, it seemed as if they had come out in the middle to prove a point. Well, that’s how an India-Pakistan rivalry has been for ages. But the Asian side will now be up against New Zealand. This could have been just another World Cup encounter where both sides would have fought for valuable points.
But it would be much more than that now as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Rameez Raja had earlier said that apart from India, the Pakistan team will target New Zealand and England now after they abandoned their respective tours of Pakistan citing security concerns.
"We go in the World Cup now and where we had one team in our target - our neighbours India, they now add two more teams - New Zealand and England. So pick up the strength and develop a mindset that we are not going to lose because you didn't do right by us with us and we will avenge that in the ground," ESPNcricinfo quoted Raja as saying.
For now, the Babar Azam side has responded well to what the PCB chairman had said but it’s still a long way to go. They are in good form and should rather focus on continuing that in the next match.
New Zealand on the other side, will be coming into this match after losing both the warm-up matches against Australia and England respectively. Nevertheless, the Blackcaps will now begin the tournament against Pakistan in Sharjah on Tuesday.
Match Details
Match: PAK vs NZ, 19th Match, Super 12 Group 2, ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021
Date: Tuesday, October 26, 2021
Time: 7:30 PM
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Telecast: Star Sports Network, Disney+ Hotstar
Pitch Report
The track in Sharjah had something on offer for the batters during the game between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh while Afghanistan also dominated the Scotland bowling unit in their respective clash at the venue. But the key will be to get the eye in and then accelerate for the batsmen.
The spinners can play some role in the middle overs as well. So, if you win the toss, elect to bowl first.
Babar Azam & Rizwan: Partners in run-scoring
The two batsmen were on a roll during the match against India on Sunday. The duo put up an unbeaten stand of over 150 runs and thrashed the Indian bowling lineup to win the match by 10 wickets. While Babar took a bit of time to settle in, Rizwan punished the bad deliveries that came his way.
The Pakistan team management would expect these two to continue from where they left in the last encounter.
While Babar can play the anchor’s role, Rizwan has some innovative strokes in his armour that can come handy against a formidable New Zealand bowling attack.
Shaheen Afridi’s role
The left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi had said that he would like to scalp the wickets of India’s top-order ahead of the match and HE DID. Shaheen certainly walked the talk as he got rid of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and later Virat Kohli during the course of the match.
Now, Pakistan would want him to replicate the kind of performance he unleashed in the last game when he took the centre stage against the Kiwis.
New Zealand comprises some of the finest batsmen in their unit such as the likes of Kane Williamson, Martin Guptill, Devon Conway who have the ability to turn around a game on its head single-handedly. Pakistan would need to pick up early wickets just like they did against India to prevent New Zealand from putting up a big total.
Kane Williamson holds the key
New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson would play a key role against a bowling lineup that Pakistan possesses. The right-handed batsman can negotiate this ruthless bowling unit with his patience and should look towards staying at the crease as much as he can just like India captain Virat Kohli did. Though, Kohli fell short of partners at the other end and India were were restricted to a lesser total.
Probable XI
New Zealand: Tim Seifert (wk), Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson (c), Devon Conway, Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult, Ish Sodhi
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi
CE Fantasy XI
Mohammad Rizwan, Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Shoaib Malik (C), Mitchell Santner, Mohammad Hafeez, Trent Boult, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi (VC)