Fresh from a demolition job of the West Indies to begin their summer, New Zealand step it up a notch on Friday morning when they face Pakistan in the first of three T20 internationals with the opening game coming from Eden Park.
At one stage it looked like Pakistan were going to trudge off home after a dispute over quarantine but thankfully they have stayed and might even have an extra fire in their belly for this tour now which should make for some excellent cricket.
New Zealand
Just beating West Indies in the T20 format will have sufficed given that the Caribbean men are the world champions in this version of the game, but what will have really pleased the Kiwis is the fact that they were able to win so handsomely without a number of their first choice stars. International cricket is increasingly becoming a squad game, particularly for the next 12 months or so where bubbles and quarantine and everything else is going to be in play, so to show the depth they have will have been particularly pleasing.
The other thing that will have delighted the home side is how balanced their team was despite the changes and how both the batting department and the bowling one really stood up and performed well even though some huge names were absent. That kind of thing creates competition for places and it will be interesting to see if that was a one off or whether they can replicate those performances over the next week to really announce themselves as major players for the World T20 next year.
Pakistan
This feels like a big week for Pakistan. The Pakistan Super League finally finished recently and was a resounding success and players have come out of that competition that look ready to announce themselves on the world stage. Since lockdown Pakistan have been to England and given a creditable account of themselves but they are a proud nation who don’t just want credit building up, they want victories and to be challenging for the major honours.
This is the beginning of a big period of cricket for Pakistan but despite that they have brought a very strong squad to New Zealand with them. The one thing which could be an issue for Pakistan here is they haven’t had the chance to play a warm up match and their preparation was hampered when they broke quarantine rules and were banished to their hotel for the rest of that settling in period. There is no chance for easing their way into the tour so it will be interesting to see if they can go right from the off.
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Team News
New Zealand will be without their captain Kane Williamson for this match as he is still away on paternity duty. Tim Southee and Trent Boult have been stood down for this match so Mitchell Santner will skipper the side with Mark Chapman and Scott Kuggeleijn coming into the side.
Pakistan will also be without their skipper as Babar Azam is injured and has been ruled out of the series. Shadab Khan is set to take the armband for this match and it appears that Abdullah Shafique will partner the exciting Haider Ali at the top of the innings.
Betting
Eden Park in Auckland is a ground which is built for big hitting, plenty of runs and a lot of sixes and I’m not expecting anything different in that regard here. There used to be a slight doubt over the hitting potential of the Pakistan batting but against a second string New Zealand bowling attack and in the age where the PSL have created natural hitters of a cricket that concern is less in play here which makes me think the over 16.5 sixes is the bet to be on in this match.
New Zealand played West Indies in a rain affected T20 match here last month and there were 23 sixes which highlights the potential for sixes in this match. If you think back to England and Pakistan at Old Trafford in the summer the sixes flowed there too. These days teams load up with hitters that can clear most ropes let alone these incredibly short straight ones. I expect the series to get off to an explosive, big hitting start here.
Tips
Back Over 16.5 sixes for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with BetVictor
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