Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first against New Zealand in the second T20I of the five-match series here at Gaddafi Stadium.
Pakistan haven’t made any changes to the team and Babar Azam says he is blessed to have so many options to pick from.
Pakistan proved to be too strong for New Zealand in their backyard in first T20 as the big guns returned to the squad and made life difficult for the depleted New Zealand side, handing them an 88-run drubbing. Pakistan’s fast bowling arsenal was too hot to handle in the series opener for the touring party and the Tom-Latham-led side should expect more of the same tonight. The anointed prince of Pakistan cricket Babar Azam celebrated his 100th T20I with a massive win at his home ground but he failed to get going and was castled at 9 by Adam Milne.
Haris Rauf returned his career-best figures of 4/18 and was one of the architects of the clinical win last night as he trampled over the Black Caps’ middle order that collapsed like a house of cards.
Saim Ayub played some delectable shots the other night and waltzed his way to 47 while Fakhar Zaman used his wealth of experience and acted as the protege in the 79-run stand as the duo put pressure back on New Zealand after the openers got out early in the piece.
New Zealand’s best chances of challenging Pakistan at their fortress is by restricting them to a modest total and bat out of their skins to ruffle the full-strength home side. Matt Henry took a hat trick in his figures of 3-32 while Milne was outstanding with the new ball and they both need to rip through the batting order and create panic to give themselves a good chance to topple star-studded Pakistan line-up.
Squads:
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan.
New Zealand: Tom Latham (c & wk), Chad Bowes, Will Young, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, James Neesham. Rachin Ravindra, Adam Milne, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Ben Lister.
