New Zealand vs Pakistan – 2nd T20 Match Preview & Prediction
THE FACTS
When is New Zealand vs Pakistan taking place? Sunday, December 20th, 2020 – 06:00 (UK)
Where is New Zealand vs Pakistan taking place? Seddon Park, Hamilton
What is the expected weather for New Zealand vs Pakistan? 17c with sunshine with cloudy intervals
What channel is New Zealand vs Pakistan on? The match will be televised live on BT Sport 1
Where can I stream New Zealand vs Pakistan? This match can be streamed live on the BT Sport app and website
Where can I get tickets for New Zealand vs Pakistan? Tickets for this match can be purchased here!
LAST MEETING
New Zealand beat Pakistan by 5 wickets
THE TEAM NEWS
NEW ZEALAND
- New Zealand won the opening T20 match of this three-game series by five wickets as they restricted the tourists to just 153/9 before chasing that down with relative ease with seven balls to spare.
- Following the birth of his first child, Kane Williamson could potentially return to the fold for this game although it would be no surprise if they did withhold their skipper for the Test series especially given Tim Southee, Kyle Jamieson and Daryl Mitchell are all available again after being rested for the first game.
- Mitch Santner, Blair Tickner and Mark Chapman could be the men to make way for the returning trio especially following Jacob Duffy’s superb performance on his debut where he took 4-33 from his four overs.
PAKISTAN
- Pakistan lost the opening T20 match after a disastrous start to the game as after winning the toss and batting first, they fell to 20-4 before a late rally saw them by stand-in skipper Shadab Khan and Faheem Ashraf saw them reach a below-par but competitive 153/9.
- Veteran Mohammad Hafeez was one of the top order to struggle badly as he fell for a golden duck as the absence of Babar Azam was noticeable so they will simply have to improve in the batting department if they are to stay alive in the series.
- The bowling unit showed that they are capable of causing the Blackcaps some problems with Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi particularly impressive though they may consider bringing in another batsman or pace bowler for Imad Wasim with spin proving not particularly fruitful in the opening game.
THE PREDICTION
The first T20 match was comfortably won by the hosts in the end as despite both teams being under-strength, it was New Zealand who coped much better than the tourists. Pakistan’s batting looked extremely fragile at the top of the order and unless they can drastically improve, they will no doubt struggle once again. With Southee and Jamieson likely back for the hosts, that will present another tough challenge for the Pakistani batting line-up and one which they could well struggle with yet again. They bat deep which is what rescued them from total disaster in the first game but so do the hosts and the Blackcaps have to be favoured to seal the series here.
