New Zealand conclude their tour of Pakistan on Friday and they do so with a deciding clash in an ODI series which hasn’t really captured the imagination in a way it was expected to. Karachi is once again the venue for the contest.
Pakistan won the opening match in convincing fashion and then New Zealand responded in kind in the second one so regardless of who comes out on top in this decider, hopefully it will be a competitive way to end proceedings.
Pakistan
While Pakistan were extremely impressive in winning the opening match of the series, there wasn’t really much about them that was all that appealing in their second game. I guess the way they fought back with the ball was to their credit after it looked like a monster score was going to be on the cards. In the end they probably kept New Zealand to par or only just above it, certainly from the start they made.
I think most people expected the run chase to be as comfortable as it was in the opening game but the opening pair failed and then nobody seemed to want to hang around and bat with their captain and in the end Pakistan were well beaten on the day. That batting is always a little too fragile for comfort but if they can deliver the goods in this final game then we’ve seen enough from them with the ball in the first two matches to suggest that they can win this one.
New Zealand
I think we all thought that there would be some natural improvement in the New Zealand side after those who had come in from the cold had got up to speed but I’m not sure as many expected them to come out and dominate Pakistan in the way that they did in that second match of the series. They could even afford to ride out a pretty horrendous batting collapse and still win with plenty in hand which can only bode well for them.
Now that they won that second game, they can look back on that collapse and see that there is even more to come from them with the bat, but at the same time it is twice that they have fallen over the line in their last 10 overs and so they really need to maximise those overs better going forward. To their credit, even though the score they eventually got was competitive, New Zealand bowled brilliantly to keep Pakistan safely under it.
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Team News
Pakistan have no reason to make a change to their side after one sloppy display but if they do want to then Mohammad Hasnain or Shahnawaz Dahani could come in with the ball while Shan Masood is waiting for a chance with the bat.
New Zealand got their combinations spot on in the previous game and you would imagine it is unlikely that they will make any changes for this one unless they have a late illness or injury which hasn’t been reported.
Betting
Given that he took four wickets in the previous match I am very surprised that we can get a 33.5 performance line for Mohammad Nawaz for this deciding game. I mentioned in the preview for that second contest that the pitches are only going to get slower and lower and start to take extreme turn from here on in and that is exactly what we saw. Add the sun beating down on the square once again and that should be further exacerbated.
Nawaz will be in his element in this deciding match. Only Devon Conway in this New Zealand top order is a left-hander so Nawaz will be turning the ball away from the majority of the batters and as a left-hand batter himself two of the New Zealand spinners will be turning the ball into his pads, so although he hasn’t offered nothing with the bat in the series to date, he should be capable of putting something together if needed here. I expect a couple of wickets from him though so I’m happy to be on the over here.
Tips
Back M.Nawaz’s Performance – Over 33.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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