Trivandrum: When Shahid Afridi’s Pakistan and Daniel Vettori’s New Zealand clash in a World Cup Group A tie at Pallekele, the game might very well be decided depending on which of the two captains has a better day out. Pakistan will be the more confident of the two teams having had a faultless start to the tournament, and also considering their ODI series win in New Zealand, just before coming to the subcontinent.
The Kiwis have gained two 10-wicket victories against Kenya and Zimbabwe so far, but came a cropper in the one real test they have had – against Australia. With Afridi in fine form with the ball and quality pacers Shoaib Akthar and Umar Gul in their ranks, Pakistan have one of the best all-round bowling attacks in the world and will be a real challenge for the Kiwi batsmen.
But what will give the Black Caps some confidence is the fact that the Pakistan batting has not been at its best. Openers Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad have had a torrid run in the tournament while the volatile nature of the middle-order was exposed in their last game against Canada.
Younus Khan and Misbah ul Haq fired in the first two games, but once they were dismissed cheaply in the third game, flair batsmen Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Afridi and Abdul Razzaq could not hang around long enough. If New Zealand can get a couple of early blows, they will fancy their chances against the middle-order.
While it has been the seamers Tim Southee, Kyle Mills and Hamish Bennett who have so far carried the Kiwi bowling, against Pakistan, Vettori has to fire. The wily spinner showed glimpses of his best during the win against Zimbabwe, and it will be his experience and guile that can give New Zealand the crucial wickets in the middle overs.
It would not be too much of a surprise as well if Nathan McCullum is used to open the bowling, and if so, the lesser-known of the McCullum brothers could have a huge role to play.
This game will be the first of the tournament to take place at Pallekele and therefore, it will be interesting to see what the pitch holds. The two grounds used previously in SriLanka, at Hambantota and Colombo (Premadasa), turned out to be slowish decks with the team batting second at a definitive disadvantage.
Hopefully, that will not be the case at Pallekele. No one wants to see a match where run scoring is at a premium. Especially when you look at the ranks of explosive hitters on both sides, a good batting strip might be the order of the day.
With Sri Lanka and Australia having split points in their rain interrupted match, Pakistan will definitely sense a good chance of finishing on top of the group. A fourth-straight win on Tuesday will suit them perfectly and they will be more than up for the fight. For the Kiwis, they know that a win against either Pakistan or Sri Lanka is needed to finish better than fourth in the group, and depending on how things play out in Group B, they could get an easier draw in the quarterfinals as a result.
With plenty to play for, a real humdinger in Pallekele is on the cards.
Prediction: Pakistan are the favourites but gut instinct says Kiwis will cause a minor upset.
