Pakistan aims to stay unbeaten against New Zealand
Preview: Sixth-ranked Pakistan will be taking on seventh-ranked New Zealand at the Cricket World Cup at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, in Kandy, Sri Lanka on March 8th. The two teams have met 88 times in the past with Pakistan holding a 51 to 34 edge in wins. There was one draw and two no results. Pakistan is rolling along in the tournament with three wins from three matches and sits on top of Group A. New Zealand is in fourth spot with two wins and a loss.
New Zealand has beaten Kenya and Zimbabwe and lost to Australia. Pakistan’s wins have come against Kenya, Sri Lanka, and Canada. We feel the Pakis will have another win here and
Pakistan has been good at bat and in the bowling department. Younis Khan and Misbah ul Haq have been leading the way with some important runs while captain Shahid Afridi (bet on him as man of the match for 8.50 – 15/2) has been setting the pace for the bowlers with a total of 14 wickets in Pakistan’s first three games. Afridi’s wicket total is the best of any bowler in the World Cup so far.
Some players are struggling at bat though, namely Mohammad Hafeez and of Ahmed Shehzad at the top of the order. If they get off to a slow start against New Zealand then the rest of the order will feel the pressure. They will need to score more runs than they did against Canada to beat the tougher Kiwis. Pakistan only scored 184 for 10 against Canada and was bowled out in 43 overs.
New Zealand will also need to get off to a good start at bat and will be relying on Daniel Vettori and Nathan McCullum to come through. But the top of the order will have to pull their weight.
These teams met each other just in New Zealand before the World Cup got underway with New Zealand winning the first game before Pakistan roared back with three in a row to wrap up the series. The pitch in Kandy is geared towards spin bowlers while New Zeeland generally relies on pace bowling.
New Zealand’s best weapon could be Martin Guptill as he’s been playing well in the tournament and had a good series against Pakistan in the pre-tournament series. Pakistan will be hoping that Kamran Akaml and his brother and Umar Akmal pick up some runs in the middle of the order.
When considering all factors, it looks like this is a game that Pakistan should win.
Bookmaker Bet365 has the odds of New Zealand winning at 11/8 with the favoured Pakistanis at odds of 4/7.
The likely squads will be:
New Zealand: Squad: Daniel Vettori (c), Ross Taylor (Vice Captain), Hamish Bennett, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Jamie How, B McCullum (wk), Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Jesse Ryder, Tim Southee, Scott Styris, Kane Williamson, and Luke Woodcock.
Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (c), Misbah-ul-Haq, Ahmad Shahzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Abdur Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, Syed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Shoab Akhter and Umar Gul.
