Pakistan in New Zealand: Second ODI abandoned due to rain
The second match of the six-match One Day International series between Pakistan and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 played at Queenstown ended without a result as the match was abandoned due to rain.
Both teams will be disappointed with the result as this series will be their last assignment ahead of the ICC World Cup which is due to start from 19
February, 2011 in the subcontinent.
The toss was won by the Kiwi captain Daniel Vettori and he decided to bowl first. Queenstown has not been a good venue for the teams batting first. The venue has hosted 6 matches after it debuted in 2003 and since then, all the matches have resulted in a
victory for the team batting second.
Before the start of the match, Kiwi captain Vettori and coach John Wright hinted at batting first if they won the toss as they suggested that the wicket had changed a lot in recent times.
That may have been a tactic to confuse the Pakistani team to be indecisive of what to do after winning the toss. However, the toss was won by Vettori, who elected to bowl first.
The Kiwi team would have hoped to repeat the performance of the first ODI. However, Pakistan were under no pressure batting in overcast bowling-friendly conditions.
Pakistan brought in the youngster, Ahmed Shehzad in the side for Asad Shafiq and the flamboyant young batsman did not disappoint his captain and coach in his short innings which was ended due to rain.
Shehzad opened the innings with Mohammad Hafeez and smashed the bowlers to all parts of the park. He scored 25 runs off 16 balls before the match was stopped. His innings included four boundaries and one towering six.
His senior partner, Hafeez was unbeaten on 4 off 11 balls and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 had reached 31 for no loss in 4.2 overs when the play was called off.
However, disappointment continued for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 since they could not make much use of the good start. Although the visitors will be disappointed with the rain, they will gain some confidence by the way they batted for 10-15 minutes in the match.
Pakistan had made two more changes in the team as Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz were given an opportunity in the match ahead of Shoaib Akhtar and Abdur Rehman. It is very likely that the same team for Pakistan will feature in the third match at Christchurch.
On the other hand, the Kiwis will make several changes to their team for the next match. They will be resting Daniel Vettori, Jesse Ryder and James Franklin for the next match and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mills-c76321 and Kane Williamson will replace the trio.
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