New Zealand in a must-win situation against Pakistan
After a comprehensive victory in the first match at http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wellington-c864, New Zealand are in a must-win situation to stay alive in the series against Pakistan. The fifth match of the six-match One Day International (ODI) series will be played on 3rdFebruary
at Hamilton. The visitors are leading the series 2-1.
Pakistan got off to a terrible start in the series, as the team lost the first match without a fight. Despite looking down and out, Pakistan bounced back in the next few matches to take control of the series.
The problem for New Zealand started after they decided to rest a few of their key players following their rotation policy. This may have affected the team badly as they were without their winning combination in the third match of the series.
A lot of criticism has followed the rotation policy and many former players and cricket experts said that the winning combination should have been retained for at-least one more match.
On the other hand, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) wanted to assess the performance of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972 was the other candidate for the job.
However, unlike some of the former players of the Pakistan team, Misbah offered full support to Afridi and became the backbone of the team in the series.
The veteran middle-order batsman continued his good form in the series and scored some crucial runs for the team at difficult stages of the games. Misbah was the sole performer in the first ODI for his team and then put together a match-saving partnership
with Mohammad Hafeez in the third ODI.
He was exceptional in the fourth ODI as he scored an unbeaten 93 to guide his team to a historic win at Napier. The team will be expecting more of the same from the veteran player in the remaining series. Another veteran, Younis Khan also returned to form
in the fourth ODI and contributed to a vital partnership with Misbah.
The opening pair has also looked stable for the team and both Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad have given good starts to Pakistan. The lower middle-order has been a touch inconsistent and that will be the area where Pakistan will be looking to improve.
The fast bowlers have done a decent job for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 and the visitors also have spin options available, since Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman have not featured in the matches that Pakistan won. So the team might try either of the spinners in the playing eleven
for the remaining matches.
On the other hand, the Kiwi team has looked completely out of sorts in the last two matches. The batting lineup has collapsed several times in the series, and apart from some individual performances, there hasn’t been a good team effort.
The hosts need to lift their batting performance and capitalise on the starts that they get. The team needs a solid performance from one of the top-order batsmen.
The bowlers have also not been able to bowl well in the death overs. Tim Southee has been good with the new ball but has looked below par once there is no shine on the ball.
The winning momentum is definitely with Pakistan and they seem to be in a better position to win the ODI series. However, the home advantage is with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 and they can bounce back at any stage.
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