PAK vs NZ 2nd T20 Match Prediction

PAK vs NZ Team Previews

Pakistan

After a thumping win over the visitors in the first match, Pakistan is unlikely to make too many significant changes to their side for this 2nd game. The first game saw Pakistan dominantly winning the match by a margin of 88 runs. As far as the Pakistani batting line-up is concerned, the home team will rely heavily on the in-form wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan, the captain Babar Azam, the in-form batter Fakhar Zaman, the rookie batter Saim Ayyub, the all-rounder Shadab Khan, and the experienced batsman Iftikar Ahmed. Services of the hard-hitting batter Faheem Ashraf will also be available to Pakistan.

In the first game of the series, Saim Ayyub displayed top form with the bat for Pakistan. He was the top run-getter for Pakistan and finished with a score of 47 runs from 28 balls. He struck 2 sixes and 6 fours during his inning. Apart from Ayyub, Fakhar Zaman also played a useful inning scoring 47 runs from 34 balls with 2 sixes and 4 fours. As far as the Pakistani bowling attack is concerned the onus will be on bowlers such as Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi, and Zaman Khan to share the fast-bowling load. The spinners for this game will be Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim who will try to dislodge the Kiwi batters in the middle overs.

In the first game of the series, the seamer Haris Rauf was the standout performer for Pakistan picking up 4 wickets for 17 runs from 3.3 overs. Apart from Rauf, Imad Wasim also picked up a couple of wickets from the couple of overs he bowled in the game. Pakistan has named their full-strength side for this T20I series against the Kiwis. All the big guns such as Shadab Khan, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, and Fakhar Zaman were present in the team to perform the national duties.

New Zealand

Although the Kiwis produced a lackluster performance in the opening game of the series, they are unlikely to make any big changes to their squad for the second game. As far as their batting department is concerned, New Zealand will depend on their skipper Tom Latham, Chad Bowes, Mark Chapman, Will Young, James Neesham, and Daryl Mitchell to score most of the runs in this game. In their last game against the same opposition, Mark Chapman picked up 34 runs from 27 balls with 1 six and 4 fours. Tom Latham chipped in with 20 runs from 24 balls in the game.

As far as the Kiwi bowling attack is concerned, the responsibilities will be on fast bowlers Adam Milne, Matt Henry, and Ben Lister to pick up most of the wickets. The spin bowling responsibilities will remain with Rachin Ravindra and Ish Sodhi to get the team timely breakthroughs. In the first game of the series, the seamer Matt Henry picked up a hat-trick for the black caps while conceding 32 runs in his spell of 4 overs. But despite this effort, the visitors were nowhere close to making a match of it in the first encounter.

In the second game, the New Zealanders will be looking to avenge the loss in the first match and level the series. The visiting team will not have the services of some of the top players in the series such as Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Mitchell Santner, Devon Conway, and Kane Williamson available for this match. Kane Williams is injured at the moment and the remaining four batters are taking part in IPL 2023. Latham and Chapman made great efforts during the recovery and tried to stabilize the innings in the first innings but the required run rate kept on rising.