Pakistan ask New Zealand to bat in 2nd T20 international

Pakistan won the toss and chose to bowl first in the second Twenty20 international against New Zealand in Hamilton on Sunday.

Captain Shaheen Shah Afridi repeated his decision to send in the Black Caps, having done so in the opening match of the five-game series that the hosts won by 46 runs in Auckland on Friday.

That result didn’t sway his thinking at Seddon Park.

“The wicket looks good and we want to use it first and make an early breakthrough,” said Shaheen, who was critical of his team’s poor fielding at Eden Park.

“We have to improve. If there are chances, we have to grab it.”

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson hoped his batting lineup could fire, as they did when posting 226-8 in the opener.

“But it’s a different venue so we have to look at what a good total is and put some good partnerships together,” Williamson said.

Pakistan will field the same team while New Zealand’s only change was to replace seamer Matt Henry with spinner Mitchell Santner, who wasn’t picked in Auckland after testing positive for Covid-19.

New Zealand: Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson (capt), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Ben Sears

Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Aamer Jamal, Usama Mir, Shaheen Shah Afridi (capt), Abbas Afridi, Haris Rauf. (BSS/AFP)