New Zealand vs Pakistan, Pakistan tour of New Zealand, 2020-21, Today Match Prediction 26 Dec 2020

nz vs pak Match Prediction & Analysis

Pakistan handed New Zealand their first loss in this summer after they chased down the target in the third and last T20I match. This victory will give them a huge confidence going ahead into the Test matches. New Zealand have dominating the test arena in the recent years and will look to continue their winning streak in the home soil. Moreover they have crucial 120 ICC Test Championship points on stake in this series.  New Zealand will look to claim the entire 120 points and move up in the points table. New Zealand have a full strength squad barring a few injuries and will be keen to continue their domination in this series too.

TEAMS PREVIEW

New Zealand Preview

Kane Williamson will take in charge of the New Zealand test squad after missing on the second test against West Indies. Henry Nicholls and Tom Latham were amongst the runs against West Indies. Tom Latham, Tom Blundell, and Ross Taylor are expected to form the ann very experienced batting line-up for New Zealand.

Kiwis are expected to go in with four men pace attack comprising of Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Neil Wagner, and Kyle Jamieson. Mitchell Santner might pip Daryl Mitchell for the all-rounder`s role as the team already has 4 seamers in the playing XI.  

Top players to bet on:

Kane Willaimson – Williamson scored a massive 251 runs in the last test he played.  He will look to continue his good form with the bat and lead his team to victory in this series too.

Kyle Jamieson – Jamieson has been one of the superb finds for Kiwis in the test format. He picked up 11 wickets and hit a fifty in the 2 match series against West Indies recently.   

New Zealand Predicted Playing XI:

Tom Latham, Tom Blundell, Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling (wk), Mitchell Santner, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Trent Boult

New Zealand Actual Playing XI:

Mitchell Santner, Trent Boult, Neil Wagner, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling, KS Williamson, Ross Taylor, Tom Blundell, TG Southee, Tom Latham, Kyle Jamieson

Pakistan Preview

Pakistan will miss Babar Azam and Imam Ul Haq in the first match. Mohammed Rizwan will captain the team for the first time. Shan Maqsood and Abid Ali will open the batting with the experienced Azhar Ali coming at No.3. Fawad Alam and Haris Sohail will come in the middle order and are yet to play a match in New Zealand soil.

Pakistan  trio of Mohammed Abbas, Naseem Shah, and Shaheen Afridi will take care of the pace department with all-rounder Fahreem Ashraf expected to be the fourth seamer. All-rounder Shadab Khan is expected to take the place of lone spinner ahead of Yasir Shah.

Top players to bet on:

Azhar Ali – Azhar Ali ended his string of low scores with a brilliant 141 runs in the last Test match against England. He will need to play a big role in this match as team`s senior most player.

Mohammed Abbas – Abbas is known to move the ball consistently to trouble the batsmen. HE will trouble the Kiwi batsmen in the conditions that are hugely conductive the swing bowling.

Pakistan Predicted Playing XI:

Mohammad Rizwan (C & wk), Shan Maqsood, Abid Ali, Fawad Alam, Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammed Abbas

Pakistan Actual Playing XI:

Yasir Shah, Haris Sohail, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Fawad Alam, Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Faheem Ashraf, Azhar Ali

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

Mount Maunganai has a bright and sunny weather for the first 4 days of the match and we can expect few rain interruptions on the last day of the match as per weather forecasters.

Venue Details

Bay Oval is a good pitch to bat on in the first three days of the match predominantly. Pace bowlers might enjoy bowling on the first day with a lot of swing on offer. We can expect teams to score around 300-400 runs in the first innings of the match.

Toss: To Bat

The pitch is expected to deteriorate as the match progresses and both captains will look to bat first if they win the toss. Chasing the total on fourth innings might be tricky on this pitch.