 Pakistan will face New Zealand at the Oval in London in their second game
of the Super Eights in Group F. The Kiwis have played one game and routed Ireland
in that game while Pakistan were soundly beaten by Sri Lanka in their first
game.
Pakistan's woes with their bowling began even before the tournament began when
both Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar were ruled out of the tournament
for different reasons, while the injuries to Yasir Arafat and Sohail Tanvir
has weakened the pace department even further. Arafat has already been replaced
by Abdul Razzaq in the squad, while Tanvir limped through his first over in
the Sri Lanka game with wides and no-balls to his name. For the Pakistanis to
perform well against New Zealand, they will need the quick bowlers to be able
to restrict the free-scoring batsmen like Brendon McCullum and the half-century
scorer in the last game, Aaron Redmond.
The Kiwis will obviously miss Jesse Ryder, who has flown back due to a groin
injury, and one isn't too sure about Ross Taylor's status either. With a couple
of others carrying a niggle or two as well, the Kiwi batsmen could face the
same issue that the Pakistani bowlers would and that is the lack of personnel.
Having said that, Martin Guptill had had a good previous game, as did Redmond
and if Brendon McCullum could remove his captaincy hat and get on with
the batting one while opening the inning, the batting could roll over the weak
Pakistani bowling. It will be the Pakistani spinners who will definitely test
the Kiwi batsman, and players like McCullum and Scott Styris, two of the better
players of spin, will have a lot of work to be done.
For the Kiwis, Iain O'Brien did play a couple of games earlier - including
the warm-up ones - but wasn't found to be too successful. However, he has been
New Zealand's more successful performers, and could return back to the side
if one of the bowlers are found to be struggling with a niggle. Daniel Vettori
could just end being a passenger in the side given his injury status, but Nathan
McCullum has fit in the job very well. The battle between a Kiwi spinner and
the Pakistani batsmen should be one interesting one to watch out for!
All in all, despite Pakistan's inabilities in this tournament, I would not
have any favourites for this game; too close a game to call!
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