Pakistan vs New Zealand, 2nd T20I, Match Prediction: Who will win the Match?

New Zealand will definitely improve their performance from the first game.

Published - 01 Nov 2018, 19:42 IST | Updated - 01 Nov 2018, 19:42 IST

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New Zealand came out of their international hibernation mode and put up a superb performance in the first game of the tour. They fell short of the target by just a couple of runs and have already made a statement that the team is not here to just make up numbers. Pakistan, on the other hand, were just good enough in the series opener. However, even they must’ve understood that this Kiwi team has the ability to stretch them in this series.

Kane Williamson will be ruing the missed chance of stunning their opponents. If one of the top-order batsmen would’ve kept going, the result might have been different. However, they cleverly approached the chase and unlike the Australians, ran a lot of twos and threes by placing the ball in the gaps. Ross Taylor, during his unbeaten knock of 42 runs scored only three fours and ran as many as nine twos to keep his team in the game.

Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed would’ve realised that they will have to be clinical against the spirited Kiwis in order to beat them comprehensively. They are currently hamstrung with an injury to their preferred opener Fakhar Zaman and he is expected to be on the sidelines for this game as well.

Pitch and Weather

The action for the remainder of the series shifts to Dubai now and expect the humid weather to continue here as well. The pitch at this venue though is a little bit better. But what transpired in the recent Australia series is any indication, then yet another low-scoring thriller is on the cards. Long boundaries and slow pitch will definitely make things interesting and it remains to be seen who comes out on top.

Team Combinations

Pakistan

Pakistan are unlikely to change the winning combination unless Fakhar Zaman is declared fit ahead of this encounter. Sahibzada Farhan couldn’t score much in the previous game and he will be keen on grabbing the second opportunity if it comes. They shuffled the batting line-up by promoting Asif Ali at number three while Sarfraz himself batted at five and both the moves worked decently. Expect a similar order for the batsmen in Dubai as well.

Probable XI: Fakhar Zaman/Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Asif Ali, Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfraz Ahmed (c & wk), Shoaib Malik, Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi.

New Zealand

New Zealand also didn’t too much wrong in the first match and should go in with the same playing XI. They might ponder over bringing in an extra bowler after struggling to eke out the quota of the fifth bowler. Colin de Grandhomme and Colin Munro collectively conceded 36 runs in four overs which might have cost them in hindsight. Glenn Phillips and Corey Anderson are also expected to improve their show having spent enough time in these conditions.

Probable XI: Glenn Phillips (wk), Colin Munro, Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Corey Anderson, Colin de Grandhomme, Tim Seifert, Tim Southee, Adam Milne, Ish Sodhi, Ajaz Patel.