PAK vs NZ Match Prediction- 1st T20I, Who Will Today T20I Match? New Zealand tour of Pakistan 2024

The PAK vs NZ first T20I will be played in Rawalpindi from 8 pm IST on April 18. The two teams play a five-match T20I series with the first three matches in Rawalpindi and the final two games in Lahore. 

PAK vs NZ Team Analysis

Pakistan 

Pakistan will be led by Babar Azam in this match who was reinstated as captain by PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi. Mohammad Amir and Imad Wasim came out of their international retirements to play for the T20 World Cup to be held in the USA and Caribbean.

A lot had happened in the meantime within the Pakistan administrative circles. The chairmans have been changed, and the selectors have been changed as well.

Azhar Mahmood has been unveiled as the new head coach, with Mohammad Yousuf taking over as batting coach, Saeed Ajmal continuing as spin coach and Wahab Riaz being named the team manager.

New Zealand 

New Zealand will be led by Michae Bracwell. He will not have the senior Kiwi players available for this series. Several of them have pulled out while a few others are playing in the IPL. Among the players playing in the IPL currently are Trent Boult, Devon Conway (injury), Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitch Santner and Kane Williamson. A few others have family commitments. 

PAK vs NZ Key Factors 

Pitch Conditions

The picture at the Rawalpindi cricket stadium is generally a batting-friendly one. We have seen scores of ver 200 being regularly posted and chased down as well.

However, in international cricket, the average innings score drops down to 150 as per statistics. The venue has hosted five T20Is with four matches won by the team batting first.

Form and Fitness 

The form and fitness of the Pakistan players will be better understood once the series starts. They have been training hard in their training camps off late and there are no injury concerns as of now. 

Several of the Kiwi players included in the Kiwi squad have yet to play international cricket for New Zealand. Many of them are young uncapped players and this will be their first taste of international cricket. 

Tactical Acumen

Babar Azam is now reinstated as the captain of the Pakistan Cricket Team. It will be interesting to see how he leads the team from here on. Leadership has been a basic problem in the Pakistan cricket team under Shaheen's captaincy and it needs to be sorted. 

Talking about Michael Bracewell, it will be his first experience of leading New Zealand in international cricket. His international cricket career is not a very long one either and managing a young squad will be his biggest challenge

PAK vs NZ Score Prediction

Recent Venue Records (Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium)

STATS - T20

Total matches 5

Matches won bowling first 4

Average 1st Inns scores 155

Average 2nd Inns scores 154

Highest total recorded 194/4 (19.2 Ov) by NZ vs PAK

Highest score chased 194/4 (19.2 Ov) by NZ vs PAK

Who Will Score Most Runs For Pakistan: Babar Azam / Mohammad Rizwan 

Who Will Take Most Wickets Pakistan: Mohammad Amir / Shaheen Afridi

Who Will Score Most Runs For New Zealand:  Mark Chapman / TimSeifert

Who Will Take Most Wickets For New Zealand: Ish Sodhi / Ben Sears

PAK vs NZ Match Prediction- 1st T20I, Who Will Today T20I Match? New Zealand tour of Pakistan 2024

 The PAK vs NZ first T20I should be a good match but the prediction of the match is tilted toward the Pakistan national team given their experience with the relatively inexperienced Kiwi side. 

Conclusion 

This is a key series for Pakistan who are trying to choose the best squad for the T20 World Cup. They have an inexperienced Kiwi squad against them and it will be interesting to see how the series pan out. 

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