Pakistan Vs New Zealand First T20 Preview

Pakistan and New Zealand will want to make amends for their poor form this year and who will ultimately triumph remains to be seen. The three T20s, 2 tests and 6 ODIs promise to be a fascinating encounter between both the sides. The series kicks off with the first T20 at Eden Park, Auckland on the boxing day.
New Zealand will have their task cut out in the T20s especially with Brendon McCullum going to sit out of at least the first two matches because of back stiffness. They will also be missing the services of regular captain Daniel Vettori, who has been rested for the twenty20 games. They have three uncapped players- Luke Woodcock, a left hand batsman, Dean Brownlie, a right hand batsman and Adam Milne, an eighteen year old fast bowler who plays for Central Districts.
Peter McGlashan will  be keeping the wickets for New Zealand in the twenty20 matches. He has some experience at the international stage but played his last T20 match against Sri Lanka in 2009. He will be another player who will be looking to make the best of the opportunity.

Ross Taylor, the New Zealand captain for the series, will look to lead from the front in the batting department. New Zealand’s batting is a huge concern for the team. Apart from Taylor and Jesse Ryder, the other players have not stepped up to the mark yet and veteran Scott Styris, in particular will be looking to shine for his team. Dean Brownlie will certainly get a look in during the series.
New Zealand’s bowling bears a relatively settled look. They have plenty of options in the form of Tim Southee, Kyle Mills, James Franklin, Ian Butler and Adam Milne in the fast bowling department. Scott Styris, Jesse Ryder , Nathan McCullum and Ross Taylor can all turn their arm over  for a few overs.




Pakistan, have had a lot of unpleasant off-field action in the past few months and they will be hoping that the worst is over. Shahid Afridi will take over the reins from Misbah ul Haq, who captained the side against South Africa in the tests. They had a very bad start to the tour, getting bowled out for 91 against Auckland in the T20 on 23^rd and will be looking to have a quick reversal of fortunes. They have named a 16 member squad for the series.
They have a mix of youth and experienced players. Their batting looks solid at least on paper with Umar Akmal, Younis Khan, Fawad Alam , Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq. They also have the young Asad Shafiq and Ahmed Shehzad. While Ahmed has played both in the series against South Africa in Abu Dhabi and in the tour game, Asad is yet to don Pakistan colors in the shortest format of the game. Younis Khan’s last T20 match was the final of the ICC T20 WC in June 2009 when he was captain of the team . He will be keen to show that his is still good in this format.
Pakistan’s bowling is as formidable as always. Shoaib Akthar, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz and Tanvir Ahmed make up the list of fast bowlers while Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman make up the spinners in the squad. With Sohail Tanvir ruled out of the series with a knee injury, Tanvir Ahmed might make his debut in one of the matches.
Adnan Akmal will don the gloves for the Pakistani team and will be making his debut in the T20 format after Zulqarnain Haider’s mysterious departure from Abu Dhabi.
In recent encounters between the two teams, Pakistan won the series in Abu Dhabi last year 2-0 where as New Zealand won by 1 run in a nail biting finish in Barbados during the ICC T20 WC in May this year.
The last T20 at this ground was played exactly two years ago when West Indies was touring and proved to be a cracker of a contest with New Zealand pegging the Windies back to tie the game. But agonizingly, they lost the match in the super over with Gayle smashing Vettori for a hat trick of sixes.
Tomorrow’s game promises to be a fascinating encounter as well as an entertaining one with likes of ‘Boom Boom’ Afridi and Ross Taylor raring to go.