The Twenty20 series between New Zealand and Pakistan hangs in the balance ahead of the deciding third match in Wellington.
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The move to batting lower in the order, and the good form of Guptill and Munro has meant little time in the middle for Taylor in the series but he doesn’t mind the new role. The series is leveled 1-1.
Pakistan slumpped to 10-wicket defeat in the last match after opening the series on a winning note.
Pakistan faces New Zealand Friday in the most important T20 worldwide cricket match of the year so far, and fans can watch what is sure to be a tightly-contested contest live online for free as the two evenly matched nations battle for crucial world rankings points going into the T20 Cricket World Cup in March.
Afridi wasn’t happy with the way his bowlers didn’t follow the plans in Hamilton, having done a job on the New Zealand batsmen with a disciplined display in Auckland. Both teams have a lot at stake….
“I think Twenty20 is about it (sic) I think we have to play aggressive cricket and I think we need some aggression from the batsmen and bowlers as well”.
Earlier, Wahab Riaz lost his line and length after he was hit for six by Martin Guptill during the second twenty 20 match against New Zealand on Sunday.
Guptill tallied 87 while Williamson racked up 72 as the pair shredded the normally intimidating Pakistan bowling attack, smashing Mohammad Amir for 34 in just three overs.
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Barring this change, they are likely to keep the same combination that won the second game. New Zealand (probable) 1 Kane Williamson (capt), 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Colin Munro 4 Corey Anderson, 5 Ross Taylor, 6 Grant Elliott, 7 Luke Ronchi (wk), 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Adam Milne, 10 Mitchell McClenaghan, 11 Trent Boult/Matt Henry Wahab Riaz suffered a bruise after being hit on his left forearm in the nets on Tuesday, but he has recovered enough to play on Friday, according to team physio Brad Robinson. Stats and trivia Shahid Afridi needs two more victories to equal Mohammad Hafeez’s record of most wins as Pakistan captain in T20Is. Sohaib Maqsood’s duck in the first T20 and a scratchy 18 in the second has put his place in doubt.
