New Zealand begin a lengthy white ball tour of Pakistan on Friday which sees the two nations meeting in five T20s before five ODIs with the opening T20 clash coming along in Lahore to get things underway.
This is one of those tours we are seeing a lot more of in that New Zealand are just embarking on it to fulfil obligations rather than any real need or want to be in this part of the world. Any time Pakistan play cricket in their own country these days it is a big deal to them though.
Pakistan
Given that Pakistan cricketers can’t play in the Indian Premier League, this is a big period for them to show what they can do while the stars of the game showcase their skills across the border. In essence, we are 18 months away from another T20 World Cup so Pakistan aren’t really playing towards anything in these five matches but home cricket is still relatively new to them so that should ensure they keep their foot on the pedal here.
Pakistan arrive at this series off the back of a 2-1 loss to Afghanistan in the UAE last month. They were without a number of star players who all return for this series, which immediately shows how seriously they are taking these five matches. The home side will be under pressure given that they are facing a second string side, and they haven’t always delivered their best cricket in that situation, so it will be interesting to see how they go here.
New Zealand
This will be the second time this year that New Zealand have been on these shores but the squad they arrive with this time around is much different to the one they had with them earlier in 2023. Pretty much all of their recognised stars are away at the IPL, or in the case of Kane Williamson out injured, and so they are going with a similar squad to the one which recently faced Sri Lanka in New Zealand, a series the Kiwis won 2-1 to their credit.
It was only six days ago that the final match of that series was played in New Zealand so as well as having a second string squad with them here, the tourists haven’t exactly had much time to acclimatise to the conditions so they really are up against it here. I think the first thing New Zealand will need to prove is that they can be competitive. There is going to be plenty of natural improvement in them as this series goes on so if they can compete well in the first game they should take comfort from that regardless of the result.
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Team News
Pakistan will recall their gun two at the top of the order back into position with Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan coming into the side. Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf will also pair up with the new ball for the home side.
New Zealand will be forced into a change from the series against Sri Lanka because Tim Seifert isn’t on this tour. Dane Cleaver is the other keeper in the squad but whether he gets a game remains to be seen when Tom Latham can keep wicket.
Betting
Both teams might need a match to get into the swing of things here. New Zealand almost certainly will given that they have just come from home conditions into ones which are much more alien to them, but a number of Pakistan players missed the trip to the UAE and will need to shed some rust and the ones who were in the UAE were playing on sluggish Sharjah wickets and again will need a period of adaptation, so I’m not expecting a high scoring classic here.
We might not get that at any stage of the series to be fair given the strength of the Pakistan bowling attack compared to the second string nature of the New Zealand batting unit but you’ve got to think New Zealand will need a game to get up to speed with the bat, particularly those who haven’t played in this part of the world before. There is a chance New Zealand get shot out here if Pakistan get it right but while we wait for the Kiwis to come to the boil and assess the respective two teams I’ll take under 41.5 boundaries as my only punt in this one.
Tips
Back Under 41.5 boundaries for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with William Hill
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