Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the all-important toss and elected to field against New Zealand in the ODI World Cup fixture at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on November 4 (Saturday). Babar Azam made one change to the playing XI with Hasan Ali replacing Usama Mir. Skipper Kane Williamson returned to the playing XI along with Ish Sodhi. Will Young and Matt Henry made way for the two players.
Pakistan playing XI: Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Iftikhar Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Agha Salman, Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Haris Rauf
New Zealand playing XI: Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson(c), Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham(w), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Trent Boult
After the loss to South Africa, New Zealand slipped to the fourth spot on the points table with four wins from seven games at NRR of +0.484. On the other hand, Pakistan have three wins from the same number of games and an NRR of -0.024. The seven-wicket against Bangladesh with plenty of overs to spare did them a huge favour in the NRR department.
If Pakistan are to leave New Zealand behind on the basis of NRR after eight games, they need to win by 83 or more runs if they bat first. If New Zealand set a target for Pakistan on November 4, they will need to chase it down within 35 overs.
Squads
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Iftikhar Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Agha Salman, Shaheen Afridi, Usama Mir, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali
New Zealand: Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham(w/c), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, James Neesham, Trent Boult, Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, Mark Chapman, Lockie Ferguson
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