New Zealand and Pakistan square off in third ODI at Christchurch
Pakistan and New Zealand would lock horns in the third ODI of the six matches’ series at the AIMs stadium in Christchurch tomorrow.
The hosts have a 1-0 lead in the series. The second match at Queenstown was washed out after the men in green had gotten off to a splendid start.
Opener, Ahmed Shehzad, had scored a quick fire 25 not out as the tourists raced to 31 for no loss after the first four overs when the heavens opened cutting short a potentially exciting tie.
The New Zealanders are set to replace their captain, Daniel Vettori, with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Luke-Woodcock-c1860 for the match, Vettori, is being rested and in his place batsman, Ross Taylor, would lead the hosts.
The Pakistanis had a great time in their previous visit to the venue. They played the last match of the three match T20 series and defeated the hosts by more than 100 runs.
Ahmed Shehzad had a great time in the game. The Lahore batsman scored his first ever half-century in the game.
However, the first match in the ODI series was a tough baptism of fire for the fragile Pakistani batting line-up that imploded spectacularly. They were bowled out for 124 as the ball jagged around throughout their innings.
One of the bowlers that enjoyed a good run in the game was the strappy Hamish Bennett, who was playing his first match in his home country. The New Zealand think tank wants him to open the bowling innings in the match. The right armer has the backing of
Ross Taylor, who thinks that he can make a real impression with the new ball, especially if conditions suit him.
“Hamish Bennett is unusual. He's a hustler, he hits the deck very hard, so with the new ball and the extra bounce that he can get, hopefully he can get a little bit more. You need to see what happens on the day and where the wind's going and things like
that, but it'd be good to get him inside that first 10 overs and see what he can do with the new ball".
New Zealand is set to have batsman Jamie How open the innings along with Martin Guptill. Jesse Ryder, who blazed his way to a half-century in the first ODI at Westpac ground, is likely to miss the game as per the Black Caps rotation policy.
Wicket-keeper batsman, Brendon McCullum, had a great day with the gloves at Westpac he snapped five catches and hopes to continue his golden run in the remaining games.
Meanwhile, Pakistan would be taking the field with the usual uncertainty surrounding them. The captain of the team for the World Cup is yet to be decided and there are two front runners, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972.
Most of the former captains and cricketing pundits in the country are of the opinion that Afridi should be retained at the helm of the team for the all important tournament, they are of the opinion that a change at this juncture would prove disastrous for
the team. However, whether the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 Cricket Board is budged or not is not clear yet.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mills-c76321, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Hamish Bennett.
Pakistan (probable): 1 Ahmed Shehzad, 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq, 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Kamran Akmal (wk), 7 Shahid Afridi (capt), 8 Abdul Razzaq, 9 Abdur Rehman/Sohail Tanvir, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Shoaib Akhtar/Wahab Riaz.
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