NZ vs PAK 2nd Match Prediction

NZ vs PAK Team Previews

New Zealand

New Zealand has made it to the finals of each of the last two World Cups, making them one of the most consistent teams around. However, its form of late hasn’t been the best. The team has lost 3 of the last 5 bilaterals, and the two wins that did come were against relatively weaker opponents viz Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

As Kane Williamson returns to the squad after a long hiatus, he will have to boost the morale of his team with his dynamic leadership as well as his batting skills, especially against the spinners. New Zealand has a strong batting unit consisting of players like Devon Conway, Glenn Phillips, and Tom Latham.

There are also some quality all-rounders like James Neesham, Daryl Mitchell, and Mitchell Santner. However, most of them have little experience of playing on Indian pitches, which can be an issue. Coming to the bowling, the return of Trent Boult has undoubtedly boosted the team’s pace attack as he joins Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry.

However, Tim Southee, who suffered a fractured thumb last week may not be available for this game. Ish Sodhi will be another key bowler for the Black Caps and his recent six-for in Bangladesh will give a big boost to his confidence. 

Pakistan

Pakistan has been in brilliant form since the turn of this year and was even ranked the top ODI team by ICC until recently. However, back-to-back losses against arch-rivals India and Sri Lanka in the recent Asia Cup would have somewhat dented its confidence.

Pakistan will rely on its strong batting line-up to deliver the goods in this game. Babar Azam is in prime form and will be an important cog in the middle order alongside Mohammad Rizwan. Fakhar Zaman, who had a quiet outing at the Asia Cup, will join Imam Ul-Haq at the top of the order, while Iftikhar Ahmed, Agha Salman, and Abdullah Shafique make up the rest of the batting.

Another strength for Pakistan will be its pace attack. Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf bowled brilliantly in the Asia Cup and will look to replicate their success. Pakistan did receive a setback due to injury to Naseem Shah but he has been replaced by Hasan Ali, who too is an experienced campaigner.

The Men in Green are a bit thin on spin attack with Usama Mir being the only specialist spinner on the squad. They will have to rely on the services of all-rounders Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz during the middle overs.