There were rumours of a ghost haunting the Pakistan’s team hotel in Christchurch early this week. Harris Sohail was supposedly on the receiving end of a particularly nasty spiritual presence. Whether the ghost was simply a figment of Sohail’s imagination or whether it was the ghost of series past between the two remains to be seen.
If it was a soul from the series the two recently completed in Abu Dhabi then it will hold memories of a closely fought series, and some strong individual performances from Sohail. Perhaps that’s why he was awoken in the middle of the night.
Ghosts aside, the short turnaround to the Pakistan series will provide New Zealand with a sterner test than the one they have just encountered. With concerns lingering over Guptill and Taylor, the Black Caps will welcome the chance to fine tune.
Fine tuning is also important for a Pakistan outfit that have traditionally struggled away from home. After batting for days against New Zealand and Australia on flat pitches in Dubai, the move to New Zealand will no doubt come with trickier batting assignments against the moving ball.
Wellington is expecting a little rain. Duckworth-Lewis may be a factor.
The Last Time These Two Met
Was recently actually. In Dubai in November the teams endured a tense series which was eventually won by New Zealand in the final match. After a see-saw five match series the Black Caps secure a 3-2 series win thanks to a 68 run win. In that series, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor topped the bating charts for New Zealand; Haris Sohail and Shahid Afridi for Pakistan. With the ball Matt Henry was the best followed by Mohammad Irfan.
The Teams
New Zealand (likely): 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Brendon McCullum (capt.), 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Grant Elliott, 6 Luke Ronchi (wk) , 7 Corey Anderson, 8 Nathan McCullum/ Daniel Vettori, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Mitchell McClenaghan, 11 Trent Boult
The New Zealand set-up have not given any indication as to how serious Adam Milne’s injury is, but we suspect he’s still unfit for the Pakistan series. Nathan McCulum may get some more match practice at Vettori’s expense.
Pakistan (likely): 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt.), 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Bilawal Bhatti, 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Mohammad Irfan, 11 Sohail Khan/ Ehsan Adil
Plenty of options for the tourists in this series makes the predictions tough. Only Misbah and Umar Akmal in the middle order seem sho0-ins after convincing knocks in the warm-up matches.
The Key Players
Corey Anderson – During the week Graeme Smith and Rahul Dravid pointed out the three players they thought were crucial to New Zealand’s World Cup chances. One of them was Corey Anderson. So well suited to thrashing the ball over the boundary, and now playing an increasing important role with the ball, Anderson’s form (which was decent against Sri Lanka) is likely to match New Zealand’s.
Umar Akmal – Scores of 77 and 68 in the two warm-up games point to Akmal being in quality form at the moment. Pakistan hope so, as do the New Zealand sporting public who’ll be after a more fiercely competitive series. Akmal’s form in Australia and New Zealand over the years has been excellent, this series may be another example of that and a springboard to World Cup success.
The Match Odds*
New Zealand – $1.50
Pakistan – $2.63
*Courtesy of Betstar.
The Prediction
Pakistan against the swinging and bouncing ball worries us. That’s why we’re tipping New Zealand even though they’re coming off a loss only a few days ago.
The Longshot
Great money on Umar Akmal to top score for Pakistan. $6.50 at Betstar.
