Toss Pakistan chose to bowl v New Zealand
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01:10
Pakistan look to bounce back
Pakistan won the toss and chose to bowl first, as Azhar Ali hoped to exploit life from the hard, green-tinged Basin Reserve surface, as well as swing in the air under cloudy skies. The venue’s characteristic wind had not yet begun to blow strongly at the toss, but it is forecast to increase in power through the day.
Henry Nicholls took Ross Taylor’s place in the middle order, for New Zealand, while Tom Latham filled in for Brendon McCullum at the top. Trent Boult, Mitchell McClenaghan and Matt Henry were the hosts three specialist quicks. Corey Anderson, Grant Elliott and left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner rounded out their major bowling options.
Pakistan were without Shoaib Malik, who has a foot injury, and picked Babar Azam and Sohaib Maqsood in the middle order. Anwar Ali was the only right-arm bowler among four quicks; Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Irfan are the others. Imad Wasim’s left-arm spin was the only frontline slow-bowling component in the side.
The weather was expected to remain cloudy but dry for the duration of the encounter.
New Zealand 1 Tom Latham, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Corey Anderson, 5 Henry Nicholls, 6 Grant Elliott, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Luke Ronchi (wk), 9 Matt Henry, 10 Mitchell McClenaghan, 11 Trent Boult
Pakistan 1 Azhar Ali (capt), 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Babar Azam, 5 Sohaib Maqsood, 6 Imad Wasim, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Anwar Ali, 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Mohammad Amir, 11 Mohammad Irfan
Andrew Fidel Fernando is ESPNcricinfo’s Sri Lanka correspondent. @andrewffernando
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo