T20 World Cup: After beating India by 10 wickets, Pakistan will be eager to maintain their momentum in their second match against New Zealand. It is going to be a match of high sentiment especially for Pakistan as New Zealand withdrew from the ODI series against Pakistan recently citing ‘security concerns’.
The temperature around the game is believed to be high as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) did not take the matter well and the new PCB chief Ramiz Raja said, “We had one team in the target, our neighbor (India), now add two.” More teams, New Zealand and England,” at a press conference in September 2021. Williamson, however, said the game would be played in the “right spirit”. From the cricket point of view, both the teams look strong on paper.
This will be New Zealand’s first match in Group 2, while the way Pakistan had washed India in the first match, they would like to maintain that momentum in this match as well. The way Pakistan won their first match, they are now considered as one of the strong contenders for the title. Talking about New Zealand, the team’s form in this format has been average.
Pakistan’s Probable XI: Babar Azam (capt), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Hafeez, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Shoaib Malik, Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf
New Zealand Probable XI: Martin Guptill, Tim Seifert (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Devon Conway, Glenn Phillips, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Todd Astle, Lockie Ferguson, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult
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