PAK vs NZ Match Preview
The Pakistan team will be shattered at not being able to seal a series win against New Zealand in the T20I matches. They had their full team available at their disposal and yet they fell short of a victory in the series. But they will get an opportunity to make amends for this in the one-day international series starting tomorrow. Pakistan has a well-balanced unit that has a lot of alternatives in both batting and bowling departments. Pakistanis will be expecting their captain Babar Azam to lead this charge from the front. Babar Azam has scored 647 runs in his last 10 games for Pakistan with an average of 73.
Getting Babar Azam early will be the top challenge for the Kiwis and it will not surprise anyone if he ends up being the leading batter for the series. Fakhar Zaman has scored 375 runs in his last 10 appearances for Pakistan with an average of 37.50. Pakistan has a range of bowling alternatives for these conditions available to them. The fast-bowling attack will be led by Shaheen Shah Afridi but the in-form bowler is the young fast bowler Naseem Shah who has collected 18 wickets in his last 5 games with a terrific strike rate of 14.94.
The in-form batter in the T20I series against Pakistan, Mark Chapman has been added to the Kiwi squad for this ODI series starting at Rawalpindi. Henry Nicholls and Tom Blundell will join the team in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi for this series. Dane Cleaver who took part in the T20 series will be heading back home. Although the initial part of the series will be played in Rawalpindi, the series will move to Karachi for the later part. This one-day series will conclude in Karachi on 7th May.
Mark Chapman was pretty impressive in the T20I series putting together 290 runs in his 5 matches. In the final game of the series, Mark Chapman scored a brilliant hundred hitting 104 runs in just 57 balls to stun the hosts after they had been reduced to 26 for 3 while chasing a massive target of 194 runs. Chapman has participated in just 7 one-day matches so far for New Zealand and most of these games have been against small cricketing entities such as Scotland. In his last game for New Zealand, he hit a game-winning 101 not out against Scotland.
Weather Report
The weather for this game is likely to be pleasant but cloudy.
Pitch Report
An average score at the Rawalpindi Cricket Ground in the one-day games is 236 runs from the 24 one-day international games played at the venue. But we have seen in recent games that the wicket remains flat throughout the game. The Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium has witnessed 5 of the top scores in the PSL this year. The boundaries for the game are pretty short and the outfield is exceptionally quick. We may likely get a high-scoring affair in this game. So, the team batting first will be looking to get a score above 300 runs. This wicket in Rawalpindi is a batting paradise. Even then it will offer some help to the seamers in the initial overs. However, once the shine of the ball wears off the batters can work their way to huge scores.
Notable stats
Babar Azam has an amazing batting average in one-day internationals in recent games.
In his last 10 appearances for Pakistan Babar Azam has scored 657 runs with an incredible average of 73.
Naseem Shah has had an incredible strike rate in recent games.
Naseem Shah has picked up 18 scalps in his last 5 appearances for Pakistan with a strike rate of 14.94.
Team News
There will be a few changes to the New Zealand team for the one-day games and the same might be the case for Pakistan. But that apart there do not seem to be any injury worries for this game.
PAK vs NZ Probable 11
PAK Playing 11
- Babar Azam (C)
- Fakhar Zaman
- Imam-ul-Haq
- Mohammad Rizwan (Wk)
- Haris Sohail
- Mohammad Nawaz
- Shadab Khan
- Shaheen Shah Afridi
- Naseem Shah
- Haris Rauf
- Usama Mir
NZ Playing 11
- Tom Latham (C)
- Chad Bowes
- Mark Chapman
- Tom Blundell (Wk)
- Henry Nicholls
- Daryl Mitchell
- Jimmy Neesham
- Matt Henry
- Adam Milne
- Rachin Ravindra
- Ish Sodhi
Dream11 Prediction
As stated, Pakistan leads the head-to-head between the two teams 56-50 in the one-day international matches. They are yet to drop a game at the Rawalpindi ground against the Kiwis in the one-day format. The hosts will begin this game as favorites to win and go up 1-0 in the series. The better balance of the team and the lack of experience in the New Zealand camp might work in their favor. It will be extremely difficult for the New Zealanders to win games in this one-day series unless there are some unexpected good performances from their players. They will require a lot of consistency from their batters in the series. But the New Zealand batters are more likely to deliver in comparison to their bowlers. It is their bowling attack that is more of a concern for the Kiwis. It might be the reason for their downfall in this game.
Top Picks
Babar Azam: Babar Azam is a leading batter for Pakistan and their best batsman. He has scored a huge number of runs for Pakistan in one-day matches. You can bet on him to top score for Pakistan again.
Henry Shipley: Henry Shipley has made a great start to his career in one-day games by picking up 11 wickets in his last 5 appearances for New Zealand. He is bowling with a strike rate of 19.36.
Will Young: One of the leading batters for New Zealand in this series is likely to be Will Young. He is off to a great start in the one-day format of cricket for New Zealand.
Daryl Mitchell: Daryl Mitchell is a terrific all-rounder for Pakistan having scored 159 runs in his last 10 matches together with 10 wickets as well.
PAK vs NZ Dream11 Team 1
Keeper: T Latham , M Rizwan (VC)
Batters: B Azam (C), M Chapman, D Mitchell, F Zaman
All-rounders: J Neesham, S Khan
Bowlers: M Henry, S Afridi, H Rauf
