 |  | Pakistan Vs South Africa | |
Venue :9th Match Super 8s Group E, Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia | |||
New Zealand will play Pakistan in what will be the fifth game of the Super Eight stage of the ICC World T20. This will also be the match between the two sides which had lost their opening games of the Super Eights stage; New Zealand were put down by South Africa, whereas Pakistan lost to England.
Hence, the winner of the game will still have a chance to qualify for the next round, whereas the losing team will almost be knocked out of the tournament, unless there is a miracle.
Pakistan's batting continues to haunt them in the tournament despite that one innings against Bangladesh. Against an attack which is strong enough, the side has struggled to make it count, and this has been witnessed in two games now. There is a sense of vulnerability or brittleness in the batting and that has probably been caused by lack of the very big hitters of the ball.
Even against England, the side started out well, but all of a sudden one wicket fell and this was followed by a line of wickets before a nervous-looking Shahid Afridi was run-out. It continues to be a surprise to see that Afridi bats so high up the order and it will make sense for him to come down lower in the batting, thereby allowing some of the more talented batsmen to ensure that they get a start at the top of the order.
The bowling did its best, but nothing much seemed to have come out of it as the side had already scored far too less.
For New Zealand, it was a problem of conceding far too many runs on a difficult pitch. The track was a 150 or thereabouts wicket, but with the Kiwis not possessing anyone with the pace of Dale Steyn and with Shane Bond, not exactly in the best of forms, the opposition could run away with 170 on the board in the slog overs.
The Kiwis may have to try to get in Kyle Mills, something that was a surprise that they did not get him in the side for the South Africa game. His height and ability to bowl the different lengths at different times in the game will go on to augur well for the side.
Between the two teams, one gets the sense that the side that bowls first will have an advantage given that this is a morning match.
