Pakistan will play another must-win game when they take on New Zealand, the most consistent team in the World Cup so far, in their crucial encounter at Edgbaston on Wednesday.
Pakistan have played according to their ‘unpredictable team’tag in the tournament so far. They have registered wins against tournamentfavourites England and South Africa. However, they have also concededcomprehensive defeats against West Indies, Australia and India. Their gameagainst Sri Lanka got washed out and now they have five points from six games.They need to win all their remaining three games and also hope that results ofmatches of other teams go in their favour so that they can make it to the lastfour stage.
Pakistan’s batters and bowlers have performed in bits andpieces in the World Cup so far. Their bowling has mostly relied on left-armpacer Mohammed Amir while their batting revolves around the likes of Hasan Ali,Babar Azam and FakharZaman. However, the main concern for Sarfaraz Ahmed shouldbe their fielding.
The 1992 champions have dropped as many as 14 catches in thesix games they have played so far and they need to come up with a much improvedperformance if they want to beat the Kiwis which are one of the best fieldingsides of the world.
On the other hand, New Zealand have been a team which hasimproved constantly with each passing game. Their batting is led by skipperKane Williamson who has been in tremendous form and has already scored twodaddy hundreds.
Their bowling, too, looks in fine touch with LockieFerguson, Trent Boult and Mitchell Santner all chipping in with wickets atcrucial junctures of the games. With 11 points from six games, the Black Capsare sitting pretty at the top of the table and the win against Pakistan will sealtheir semifinal spot.
Squads: Pakistan: Sarfaraz Ahmed (c, wk), Asif Ali, HasanAli, ShaheenAfridi, Mohammad Amir, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, MohammadHasnain, Imam-ul-Haq, Shadab Khan, Shoaib Malik, WahabRiaz, HarisSohail,ImadWasim, FakharZaman
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (wk), Tom Blundell (wk), Mitchell Santner, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Colin Munro, IshSodhi, Henry Nicholls, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Jimmy Neesham.