New Zealand had lost the first ODI against Pakistan by 3 wickets at Dubai. Ross Taylor scored century but it couldn’t help the Kiwis to won the match. Pakistan was also struggling in chase of 247 runs and at one stage it seemed that New Zealand will win the match. But Afridi and Sohail played brilliantly and helped Pakistan to win the match.
Now both the teams are ready to play the second ODI at Sharjah. Pakistan will have edge over New Zealand as they have won the first ODI. Their morale will also be high. New Zealand will definitely be looking to win this match otherwise their chances of staying alive in the series will become less.
They will try not to repeat the mistakes they made in the first ODI. Ross Taylor is in good form which is a good sign for the Kiwis. He can be a very dangerous player at times. Their bowling wasn’t bad too. Adam Milne bowled superbly. His genuine pace was a sight to behold. He made difficulties for Pakistan batsmen. It’ll be quite interesting to see how Pakistan batsmen face the sheer pace of Milne.
Although Pakistan won the first match, but their performance wasn’t too good. Pace bowlers were proved out to be expensive. Irfan and Wahab took 3 and 2 wickets respectively. But they conceded more than 50 runs. Batting wasn’t satisfactory too.
All the batsmen struggled to score runs except Shahid Afridi and Harris Sohail who made 85 and 61 runs respectively. Astoundingly, Afridi played really cautiously. He was playing responsibly which was great to see. He wasn’t in blind haste as he usually in when comes to bat. It’ll be very positive for Pakistan if Afridi starts batting with responsibility.
On the other hand, Muhammad Hafeez has been suspended from bowling due to suspicious bowling action. Now he will have to perform with the bat to keep his place in the team. In past, his bowling was a main reason which kept him in the team.
Both the teams are likely to be unchanged.
Squads
Pakistan: Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Asad Shafiq, Younis Khan, Haris Sohail, Misbah-ul-Haq, Sarfraz Ahmed, Shahid Afridi, Wahab Riaz, Umar Gul, Mohammad Irfan, Umar Akmal, Zulfiqar Babar, Bilawal Bhatti, Sohail Tanvir, Nasir Jamshed New
Zealand: Dean Brownlie, Anton Devcich, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham, James Neesham, Luke Ronchi, Daniel Vettori, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Adam Milne, Martin Guptill, Corey Anderson, Mitchell McClenaghan, Matt Henry