[ad_1]
First test: Black Caps v Pakistan
Where: Karachi National Stadium; When: December 26–30, 6pm daily [NZ time]
Live coverage: Sky Sport 1, live updates on Stuff
The Black Caps are set to play their first test in Pakistan since 2002 and their first match of any kind there since 2003 on Boxing Day, when their two-match series begins at Karachi National Stadium.
A visit for white-ball cricket last year was aborted on the morning of the first one-day international due to security concerns, but teams from Australia and England have both returned there this year and New Zealand is now set to follow.
The first test will be the Black Caps’ first under new captain Tim Southee, who was unveiled as the surprise successor to Kane Williamson earlier this month, ahead of the naming of a 15-strong squad.
There will be plenty of interest in whether his team can get a rare win or two in Pakistan, at a time when the home team is surrounded by turmoil.
Here’s all you need to know ahead of the toss [5.30pm Monday NZ time] and the first ball [6pm].
Team news
Black Caps head coach Gary Stead and bowling coach Shane Jurgensen have both talked up the importance of wrist-spin in Pakistan, which points towards Ish Sodhi playing his first test since 2018.
Pakistan meanwhile have a squad of 19 players to choose from, after a newly-installed selection panel, chaired by former all-rounder Shahid Afridi, added three new faces to the original group of 16: Off-spinner Sajid Khan and seamers Shahnawaz Dahani and Mir Hamza.
Black Caps (from): Tim Southee (captain), Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Will Young, Kane Williamson, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Tom Blundell, Michael Bracewell, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Neil Wagner, Ajaz Patel, Blair Tickner.
Pakistan (from): Babar Azam (captain), Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Agha Salman, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Zahid Mehmood, Nauman Ali, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim, Abrar Ahmed, Mir Hamza, Shahnawaz Dahani, Sajid Khan
The weather
The forecast in Karachi is for clear skies throughout, with highs between 26C and 28C.
The form
Pakistan head into the first test against New Zealand having lost three matches in a row at home against England, with the last of those defeats coming as recently as last Tuesday.
All told, they have won just one of their seven matches in 2022, away in Sri Lanka, while also losing there, and at home to Australia, following two draws.
The Black Caps’ last test outings were in June and were also three losses to England. The difference between the two teams across the three first innings in that series was just 36 runs, but the hosts proceeded to then chase down targets of 277, 296 and 299.
Before that, they drew 1-1 with Bangladesh and 1-1 with South Africa at home last summer.
The history
It has been two decades since the last Black Caps a test in Pakistan – a loss by an innings and 324 runs in Lahore in 2002, where Inzamam-ul-Haq dominated New Zealand with the bat and Shoaib Akhtar dominated them with the ball.
The second and final match in that series was never played after a bomb exploded outside the New Zealand hotel in Karachi.
Altogether they have played 21 tests in Pakistan for just two wins, which came 27 years apart, in 1969 and 1996.
The talk
Black Caps coach Gary Stead: “The conditions that we face here are very, very different to what we get in New Zealand as well, so we picked our squad thinking that a leg-spinner will be important”.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam: “We could not play the last series the way we wanted to, because we committed mistakes. Now we need to overcome that and try to play good cricket”.
[ad_2]
Source link