Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat first in their Super Eight stage opener against New Zealand at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo on Saturday. This match marks the start of Pakistan’s Super Eight campaign, with upcoming fixtures against England and Sri Lanka.
Playing XI
Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha (c), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Salman Mirza, Usman Tariq.
New Zealand: Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (c), Jimmy Neesham, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson.
Head-to-Head Record
Pakistan and New Zealand have faced each other 49 times in T20 Internationals. Pakistan holds a slight edge with 24 wins compared to New Zealand’s 23, while two matches ended without a result.
In T20 World Cups, the two teams have met seven times, with Pakistan leading the record 5-2. Their most recent encounter in the 2022 World Cup semi-final saw Pakistan win comfortably by seven wickets, while New Zealand’s last World Cup victory over Pakistan came in 2016, winning by 22 runs.
| Matches | Pakistan Wins | New Zealand Wins | No Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 49 | 24 | 23 | 2 |
Recent Form
Both teams enter this Super Eight match with solid momentum, having finished second in their respective groups, winning three of their four group-stage matches.
Pakistan (most recent first): W, L, W, W, W
New Zealand (most recent first): W, L, W, W, L
This matchup is expected to be closely contested, with Pakistan looking to leverage home conditions in Colombo and New Zealand aiming to break their recent winless streak in World Cup clashes against Pakistan.
