PAKISTAN VS NEW ZEALAND: PAKISTAN LOOKING TO REMAIN UNBEATEN - MATCH PREVIEW ICC WORLD CUP 2011

Pakistan vs New Zealand: Pakistan looking to remain unbeaten - Match Preview ICC World Cup 2011

Pakistan and New Zealand will be up against each other in a crucial match in group ‘A’ of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium. This is a very important match for both the teams as it is bound to have an impact on the standings of the teams after the group stage.

The green shirts are so far unbeaten in group ‘A’ and they will definitely want to carry on with the same momentum and remain unbeaten so that they can top their group and play the weaker team of group ‘B’ in the quarter-finals. New Zealand on the other hands has had a couple of comprehensive wins but they got thrashed by the Aussies, which means that they need a win against a big team to enhance their chances in the tournament.

Although Pakistan has won all their three matches so far, they have also been shaky at times against weaker teams. The green shirts are struggling to formulate the right combination in their batting order. Although their batting looked settled before the World Cup, with the openers scoring big runs in the New Zealand tour, both Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez have failed to make any kind of an impact in the mega event so far.

There are talks that Pakistan should promote Abdul Razzaq in the batting order so that he can contribute more towards the team’s cause but team manager Intikhab Alam said yesterday that Pakistan will stick with the successful combination. So going on Alam’s words, the batting order is expected to remain the same against New Zealand as well. However it might become very difficult for Afridi and company to retain the same combination if the top order fails to fire against the Black Caps.

Saeed Ajmal bowled well against Canada but Abdur Rehman is likely to replace him tomorrow as he is fully fit once again after recovering from a leg injury which he sustained against Sri Lanka.

Pakistan (expected playing 11): 1. Mohammad Hafeez 2. Ahmed Shehzad 3. Kamran Akmal (WK) 4. Younis Khan 5. Misbah ul Haq 6. Umar Akmal 7. Shahid Afridi (cap) 8. Abdul Razzaq 9. Abdur Rehman 10. Umar Gul 11. Shoaib Akhtar

The Black Caps have taken a lot of heart from their performance against Zimbabwe as the bowlers and the top order batsmen took responsibility and sealed a comprehensive victory for the Kiwis. Martin Guptill and Jesse Ryder had a good series against Pakistan last month and should boost their confidence as they have seen Pakistani bowling quite closely.

The Kiwis are expected to retain the same playing 11 against Pakistan which won them the game against Zimbabwe. The biggest positive for New Zealand in the previous game was the return to form of Brendon McCullum. He is a genuine match-winner and has the ability to take on any bowling attack of the world.

The Kiwis have had a horrible time in international cricket for the last six months and they desperately need some victories under their belt before the knock-out stage of the mega event. The Black Caps will not want to take on the best team of group ‘B’ in the quarter-final so they have to beat Pakistan in order to avoid this situation.