Pakistan snatched defeat away from the jaws of victory in the first Test against New Zealand last week and on Saturday, when the two sides meet for the second time in the series, they will look to even the scores and force a decider.
New Zealand head to Dubai knowing that they can win the series with a victory in the second game, which looked an unlikely position for them to be in for much of the opening match. They can attack this with a little bit of freedom knowing they have two chances at a series success.
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Pakistan
I would imagine Pakistan are still wondering how on earth they surrendered what was a wonderful advantage in the first match but they need to try and forget that, other than to use it for motivation to take into this one. They had outplayed New Zealand for more than three quarters of the contest so they don’t really need to do a whole lot different, apart from the end bit.
You had the feeling heading into the series that the decisive thing would be whether Pakistan’s batting would hold up. It didn’t in that opening match so they will need to ensure they do that here but if they do then there is no reason why they will not be able to level up the series given the options that they have with the ball.
New Zealand
I always say you can never criticise a team for winning and as such I shan’t but we can acknowledge when a victory papers over a certain number of cracks and that is clearly something that happened in the first game. It is always easier to put things that went wrong right when you still won despite not being at your best though.
New Zealand need to bat better in this match. They showed they have it in them to bowl Pakistan out twice but a few more runs on the board would allow even more attacking fields to be set so they wouldn’t need things to be quite so dramatic. The Kiwis will need their two spinners to continue the good form they showed in Abu Dhabi.
Team News
Refreshingly, Pakistan have resisted the urge to make wholesale changes it would seem. Sarfraz Ahmed has stated they will not panic but there is a feeling that Shaheen Afridi could come in for his debut.
New Zealand are unlikely to change a winning team unless they feel their seam bowling needs freshening up after a fair work load in pretty brutal conditions. Tim Southee and Matt Henry are waiting in the wings.
Dubai International Stadium
There have been 12 previous matches at this ground with Pakistan involved in the lot of them. They have won six and lost three and there have been three draws, including the latest match here against Australia last month. New Zealand played here just the once which was in 2014. That match was a draw.
The pitch here is usually decent for batting but as ever in this part of the world it will begin dry and it will crumble so first innings runs are vital to the cause. Batting first would make winning the match a whole lot easier with the spinners most likely to deliver the goods on the wicket taking front.
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Betting
Pakistan need to win to level the series here and I think they will do that but I’m not parting with any cash on them to do it at 4/6. They are not trustworthy enough with the bat for my liking so rather than backing them to get over the line I will head to the side markets for a punt on the game.
Yasir Shah had a good first match with eight wickets and a handful of runs and I see no reason why he won’t go well again in this second Test. Shah is one of the best spinners in the world and on these wickets he is automatically going to get among the wickets. The seamers delivered the goods in Abu Dhabi but I don’t expect them to go as well here. Shah has a performance line of 143.5pts so eight wickets will get him over the line but he’ll score a few runs so I think we’re only looking for seven wickets. That is well within his range so I’ll play the over here.
Tips
WON – Back Y.Shah’s Performance – Over 143.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
Back him here:
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