ISLAMABAD: Riding high on confidence after a record-breaking chase on Friday, Pakistan will take on New Zealand in the fourth T20I of the five-match series at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui, on Sunday.
New Zealand will be without two of their pace bowlers for the final two encounters of this series against Pakistan.
Matt Henry will be sidelined for the remainder of the T20I series against Pakistan as he dedicates himself to his recovery from injury.
Initially included in the lineup for the fourth and fifth matches, New Zealand Cricket confirmed on Saturday that the fast bowler will not be joining the squad and will instead concentrate on his rehabilitation.
Henry sustained a right shoulder injury while making a diving catch in the outfield during New Zealand’s semi-final triumph over South Africa in the ICC Champions Trophy.
This injury, compounded by a persistent issue with his right knee, has ruled him out of the final match against India.
Zak Foulkes, who was originally selected for the first three matches in the series, will step in as his replacement.
Meanwhile, Will O’Rourke, who was also part of the initial trio, will now play in the final two games as he takes over from Kyle Jamieson in New Zealand’s bowling attack.
Jamieson, who earned the Player of the Match title for his dazzling figures of 3/8 in New Zealand’s first T20I victory, missed the second match but returned for the third, where he had a challenging outing, conceding 0/54 as Pakistan secured a nine-wicket win to keep the series competitive.
As New Zealand prepares for the concluding matches of the T20I series, they have made several adjustments to their squad, including the addition of left-arm spinner Nikith Perera, who could soon make his international debut.
New Zealand squad for last two T20Is: Michael Bracewell (c), Finn Allen, Mitchell Hay, Tim Robinson, Tim Seifert, Mark Chapman, Zakary Foulkes, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Jacob Duffy, Will O’Rourke, Ben Sears, Ish Sodhi.
New Zealand lead the five-match series 2-1, with the final two games set to be played on Sunday in Mount Maunganui and Wednesday in Wellington.
On the other hand, Pakistan has the same squad, but we might now see more of a settled XI with the batting starting to take shape.
Hasan Nawaz and Mohammad Haris up top make for a brute pair up top and the skipper, Salman Agha is that glue coming in at number 3.
The bowling leaves a lot to be desired from the visitors as the experienced likes of Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan haven’t quite lived up to expectations.
Also, the batting can collapse at any given moment as we have seen so many times in the past but the previous game should give them a lot of confidence.
New Zealand on the other hand does have a somewhat inexperienced bowling lineup and even the batting doesn’t have the regular names but barring the previous game, they have shown great application on both fronts and will be looking to get back to winning ways after that unprecedented way of defeat.
