Cricket

Unchanged Pakistan ask New Zealand to bat on clear Rawalpindi evening

Toss Pakistan opt to bowl vs New Zealand

Pakistan won the toss and chose to bowl in the second T20I against New Zealand in Rawalpindi on Saturday evening.

Babar Azam announced an unchanged side from the first T20I, which was rained out after just two balls on Thursday. Fortunately, the forecast for the second T20I is clear.
New Zealand made one forced change to their XI from the previous match. They replaced right-arm medium-pace bowler Josh Clarkson, who is unwell and didn’t travel to the ground, with offspin-bowling allrounder Cole McConchie.

McConchie has so far played nine T20Is, the last of which came against UAE in August 2023. Although he has only 84 runs in seven innings with the bat, his numbers with the ball are solid: seven wickets at an average of 22.71 and an economy rate of just 7.17.

Meanwhile, Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Azam Khan has been ruled out of the entire series as radiology reports confirmed a grade one tear in his right calf muscle.

Pakistan: 1 Babar Azam (capt), 2 Saim Ayub, 3 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 4 Usman Khan, 5 Iftikhar Ahmed, 6 Irfan Khan, 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 9 Mohammad Amir, 10 Naseem Shah, 11 Abrar Ahmed

New Zealand: 1 Tim Robinson, 2 Tim Seifert (wk), 3 Dean Foxcroft, 4 Mark Chapman, 5 James Neesham, 6 Michael Bracewell (capt), 7 Cole McConchie, 8 Ish Sodhi, 9 Jacob Duffy, 10 Ben Sears, 11 Ben Lister