4 days Ago
New Zealand, despite missing half of their first-choice players, put on a fantastic show with the bat in the first ODI and managed to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series against Pakistan. The Black Caps suffered a massive blow with the hero of the first ODI, Mark Chapman being ruled out due to a hamstring injury and will hope that Tim Seifert continues from where he left off in the T20Is, having won the Player of the Series in the five-match series last week, scoring 249 runs. Not just Chapman, but the likes of Daryl Mitchell and debutant Muhammad Abbas also chipped in and the Black Caps now have players to rely on in the middle order.
345 was always going to be a steep chase but if the Kiwis bat again, Pakistan will have to chase whatever they get because there are no second chances here and the visitors will have to push for a win, to stay alive in the series. Pakistan too have an injury issue with Imam ul Haq likely to sub in for Usman Khan, who was ruled out of the second ODI. Pakistan need to sort out both their batting as well as bowling.
The visitors decided to go all-in with pace but were taken to the cleaners by Chapman. Even though Chapman is not there, New Zealand still have the line-up to cause trouble and Pakistan will have to land the killer blow to take the series to the decider. Will Young, Tim Seifert, Daryl Mitchell (c), , Muhammad Abbas, Irfan Khan, Michael Bracewell, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Jacob Duffy (vc), William O'Rourke Will Young, Nick Kelly, , Daryl Mitchell, Tim Seifert, Muhammad Abbas, Michael Bracewell (c), Mitchell Hay(w), Nathan Smith, Jacob Duffy, William O'Rourke Abdullah Shafique, , Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (w/c), Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Ali, Akif Javed.
