Pakistan look to maintain winning momentum against New Zealand
ABU DHABI: A buoyant Pakistan will look to extend their winning streak by claiming the 11th consecutive T20 series, when they take on New Zealand in the first of the three-match series in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
Pakistan, who are No.1 side in the T20s, seem to have mastered the format under skipper Sarfraz Ahmed as they have won the last ten successive series, latest being against Australia.
Pakistan whitewashed Australia in the recently-concluded threematch series, defending an underpar total in the third match to pull off a thriller.
Ever since Sarfraz took over as captain Pakistan have won 26 of their 30 matches and the hammering of Australia was their tenth straight series win.
SARFRAZ CONFIDENT
Sarfraz vowed to continue their hot streak in their three-match series against New Zealand.
“We want to carry forward the winning momentum of the Australia series,” said Sarfraz, who announced Shoaib Malik will join the team in time for the match soon after becoming a father.
Sarfraz admitted New Zealand, two points behind Australia in the world rankings and having played three fewer matches, will be a tougher opponent.
“They (New Zealand) have a strong team with ideal batsmen for Twenty20 and a balanced bowling attack so we need to set the tone from the first game by winning it,” said Sarfraz, whose team has won 10 of their 18 previous Twenty20 internationals against New Zealand.
STRONG BOWLING
The key to Pakistan’s success in T20s has been their strong bowling attack, which features pacers Hasan Ali and Faheem Ashraf who are backed by world-class spinners in the form of Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan. Pakistan defended totals of 155, 147 and 150 against a misfiring Australia.
After Imad was hit for 20 runs in his first over against Australia in the last match, it was Ashraf who brought Pakistan back into the game.
But it was Shadab who stole the limelight and returned with a figure of 3-19. Shadab completely choked the flow of runs with his tight bowling that caused a panic in the Australian camp, prompting the batsmen to play wayward shots.
Moreover, Mohammad Hafeez and Malik will further give Sarfraz more options in spin with their parttime yet impressive bowling.
As far as batting is concerned, their opening batsman Babar Azam is in great form and has smashed four fifties in his last five innings, which catapulted him to the top of the standings in the shortest format.
His scores in the last five innings have been 50, 45, 68 (not out), 51, 97 (n.o.) with an average of 103.66 and a strike rate of 131.22.
ZAMAN SIDELINED
However, opener Fakhar Zaman is still sidelined with a knee problem that forced him to sit out Sunday’s game against Australia in Dubai.
On the other hand, New Zealand are coming into the series after an international drought of seven months.
They played their last international match in March-april. However, few of their players have been getting good match practice as they played in different franchise tournaments like IPL, BPL, CPL during this period.
New Zealand A also defeated Pakistan A 2-1 in a three-match series that recently concluded in Dubai. But when it comes to international cricket where national pride is at stake, it becomes a different ball game.
A depleted New Zealand will have to do without their two main players who have been ruled out due to injury.
GUPTILL BLOW
Martin Guptill’s absence will be a big blow for the visitors, when they were already without their spin spearhead Mitchell Santner, who has been nursing a knee injury for a long time.
Williamson admitted opener Guptill, out of the tour with a calf strain, will be missed.
“It’s a shame we don’t have Martin for this series,” said Williamson of Guptill, who is the highest run scorer in the format with 2271 in 75 matches.
“He’s obviously a world-class player for us and a big performer.”
Glenn Phillip, who was also a part of victorious New Zealand A, has been included in the squad for Guptill — owing to his good performance against Pakistan A.
He is likely to open the innings with Munro at the top of the order, while Williamson and Taylor will come at third and fourth spot.
Sodhi is set to spearhead the spin attack on the spin-firendly Abu Dhabi turf with uncapped 30-yearold Ajaz Patel.
WILLIAMSON WARY
Williamson said his team needed to be at their best to beat the top T20 team.
“Obviously, Pakistan are a strong side,” said Williamson.
“That’s something we’ve known for a long time. The last time we played against them was at home in New Zealand and it was a tough series,” added Williamson of the January series which Pakistan won 2-1.
“They are extremely strong in these conditions. Their rankings suggest that as well. They have had a lot of success in the format in recent times.”
FOCUS ON MUNRO
New Zealand will pin hopes on Colin Munro, who is one of the most destructive batsmen. The lefthanded opener not only has the most T20I hundreds, but his strike-rate of 163.59 is the highest among all the players with more than 500 runs in the format.
Munro is one of only two batsmen to hit three Twenty20 hundreds alongside India’s Rohit Sharma.
New Zealand also have hard hitting all-rounders in Corey Anderson and Colin de Grandhomme, with pace attack spearheaded by Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson and Adam Milne.
The series opener can also mark Anderson’s return to international cricket, who last played for New Zealand in the 2017 Champions Trophy.
The remaining two matches will be played in Dubai on Friday and Sunday. The two teams will also play three Tests and one-day internationals.