KANDY: Pakistan will face their second litmus test of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 on Tuesday when they will take on New Zealand at Pallekel Stadium in Kandy in a crucial Group A encounter.
Pakistan vs New Zealand at Kandy
Pakistan won all the three matches they have played so far against Sri Lanka, Kenya, and Canada and they are still to face off with New Zealand, Zimbabwe, and Australia so it’s true to assume the tougher part of the group stages is just getting started for the Men in Green.
On the flip side, New Zealand have lost to Australia and defeated two weaker African teams including Zimbabwe and Kenya both by 10 wickets. The Black Caps are yet to play against Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Canada which means they at least need to win one match to enter into the quarterfinals stage as fourth qualifying team.
Daniel Vettori. Courtesy: Getty Images
As far as the Pallekele Stadium is concerned, this is the newest addition to the Sri Lanka cricket venues and is yet to host any One Day International match. The International Cricket Council (ICC) had schedule a couple of World Cup Warm-Up matches but heavy rains forced the apex cricket body to shift games from Kandy to R Premadasa Stadium of Colombo. Both teams took a look at the pitch on Monday and players from both camps were unified in one assessment; the pitch will have some bounce for the faster bowlers, which means batting will be a hard affair on this pitch early on.
The Sports Encounter’s cricket expert, Hamad Hussain, was of the view that any captain winning the toss should avoid batting first on this pitch because nothing is known about it, no stats, no previous data, no pitch assessment by a professional. He was of the view that the pitch might ease out in the second part of the innings. He added that weather is still a threat to this match despite of a hot day at Kandy on Monday.
Shahid Afridi, Younus Khan. Courtesy: AP PHOTO
As per the previous records, Pakistan have a clear advantage over Kiwis as these teams have met seven times in world cups with Pakistan winning six of them. The last time New Zealand did win against Pakistan was in 1983 but since then it has been a one-way traffic for Pakistan. Two of these victories came in the 1992 World Cup when Pakistan first defeated an unbeaten New Zealand and then beat them again in semi-final before going on to win the World Cup title. Pakistan then defeated Black Caps two times in 1999 World Cup played in England where Pakistan ended as Runners-Ups after losing to Australia in the final.
Recently, the two teams locked horns in a six-match One Day International series played in New Zealand where Pakistan defeated the hosts by 3-2 with one match getting washed out.
Daniel Vettori. Courtesy: Getty Images
New Zealand have decided to target Pakistan’s main batsman, Misbah-ul-Haq, in the Kandy encounter as the middle order batsman was the main performer for Men in Green in New Zealand. Tim Southee told media persons on Monday that Misbah has been Pakistan’s star performer recently and Kiwi bowlers would love to see his back at the earliest.
On the other hand, Misbah told reporters that he is expecting his young openers to deliver centuries which would undo New Zealand bowlers’ plan to target him. “In such a case, it would be fruitless for Black Caps to target my wickets as the damage would already be done before I could take the crase”, Misbah said.
Pakistan’s recent form has been impressive as the team has won six out of their last seven One Day Internationals while New Zealand have lost four of their last nine ODIs while one of them ended with no result.
If Pakistan win tomorrow’s match, then it would be certain that Boom Boom Afridi’s men can qualify for the quarterfinals as either number one or two team of the Group A which means they will be playing against a weaker team from Group B.
Shoaib Akhtar. Courtesy: Getty Images
Shahid Afridi, who is leading top bowlers with 14 wickets, will once again look to cast a spell on New Zealand batsman as Kiwis traditionally are not good players against spinners. Their recent record also exposes their weakness against spin bowlers. First India and then Bangladesh whitewashed the Kiwis in their home series before Pakistan’s series which clearly shows New Zealand batsmen are not equipped with the technique to handle quality spin bowlers.
As per the media reports, Pakistan have decided to play Abdur Rehman and Shoaib Akhtar against New Zealand thus keeping the winning combination. New Zealand will also play an unchanged squad going with three top fast bowlers including Tim Southee, Kyle Mills, and Hamish Bennett. Pakistan will rely more on their spin bowlers as the new ball will be shared between Abdul Razzaq and Shoaib Akhtar.
Shahid Khan Afridi and his men are in good form and this is their best chance to take the top spot of Group A and enter the next stage with pride and confidence to win the World Cup title after 19 years.
