KARACHI: Pakistan on Wednesday continued sweating on finding ways and means to counter rampaging New Zealand even as heavy downpour threatened their second One-day International against New Zealand to be played on Thursday (today).
After having won the tour-opening first Twenty20 International in Auckland Pakistan were flattened by the hosts in the last three games of the tour including the first ODI on Monday.
The Black Caps are overwhelming favourites to win today’s game but there are fears that rain might have say in what is a must-win match for the below-par Pakistanis.
The tourists were forced to cancel their outdoor training session on Wednesday morning because of heavy downpour.
Prior to calling off the training, manager Intikhab Alam visited McLean Park and found the ground to be too wet, making it impossible to hold the practice even if the rain stopped (which didn’t transpire in any case, as intermittent rain persisted through the day).
The good news for Pakistan is that there are no injury issues in the squad, according to a team official. Mohammad Amir, who was had to leave the field owing to cramps in both legs in his 9th over in the first ODI, has recovered. And fitness of Shoaib Malik, who had played all three T20Is after pain killers were administered to him and rested for the first ODI lest he aggravated his foot injury, shall be assessed before the game.
As rain enforced cancellation of training the training session, to keep the team together outdoors, manager Intikhab Alam and head coach Waqar Younis quickly organised for the entire squad a spell of Ten Pin Bowling. “The fun activity reenergised the boys,” the official said.
If the match does take place despite inclement weather, Pakistan’s woes with the bat will be in focus. On a ground, that has traditionally seen big scores, Pakistan have a severe shortfall of in-form batsmen.
Against a good bowling attack, sans one of the frontline pacers (Mitchell McClenaghan), Pakistan batsman surrendered abjectly. Chasing a competitive total of 281 in the first ODI, they exhibited a below-par batting performance.Mohammad Amir’s return to the side may have bolstered Pakistan’s bowling attack, but the reception wasn’t as warm as the youngster would’ve liked from the crowd. He did end up bagging three wickets despite the boos from the crowd and a taunt from the public announcer.
For a good period of time in the first ODI, Pakistan held a commanding position in the match, that they eventually went on to lose by 70 runs.
The fracture to the left eye socket will keep McClenaghan out of the second match. But given the pool of talented fast bowlers on the bench, the task of finding a replacement wouldn’t cause much headache to the New Zealand skipper.
Doug Bracewell, who has been called in as a replacement for McClenaghan, has been in good form lately and is excited to return to the side. “The New Zealand fast bowlers seem to be going really well. They’ve got a few options up their sleeve and they’re rotating the guys. It’s exciting to be back in the mix,” he has said.
However, Adam Milne, Trent Boult and Matt Henry are likely to feature as the three frontline pacers in the Playing XI for the next match. Corey Anderson, too has recovered from his injury and will be expected to bowl.
Another major change for New Zealand is the inclusion of BJ Watling in place of Luke Ronchi for the next two matches.
Pakistan, despite a poor show are expected to go in with the same side. Shoaib Malik, who has recovered from his injury, could come in place of Sohaib Maqsood.
But, the biggest cause of concern would be the weather. Rain is expected to play spoilsport, with damp weather predicted till Thursday afternoon.
Large puddles have formed on the McLean Park outfield while there was flooding in the nearby suburb of Onekawa.
The forecast is for morning drizzle, clearing in the afternoon with strong southerly winds which will help the drying process. McLean Park hasn’t been a fast drying ground in the past, with the West Indies ODI in December 2013 abandoned in bright sunshine when the shaded area in front of the main grandstand was deemed unsafe.
Second ODI
Paksitan vs New Zealand
6:00 am PST