The season of T20 cricket is running in full flow as we started the proceedings with the Women’s Premier League, then shifted our focus to the most-awaited Indian Premier League. Now it is time for some gruelling international cricket as Pakistan is all set to host New Zealand for a five-match Pak vs. NZ T20I series starting on Thursday, April 18, 2024.
The series is quite important for both teams, as even after being quality teams, they last laid their hands on an ICC trophy a long time ago now. And since the ICC T20I World Cup 2024 is less than 50 days away from us, this Pakistan vs. New Zealand series would work as an opportunity for both squads to be best prepared for another chance to win an ICC trophy.
Due to a few New Zealand players playing in the IPL currently, Pakistan start as favourites, having the home advantage as well, but from our cricket-viewing experience of the past 10–12 years, we have learned that you never rule anyone out on a cricket ground, and if it is a team like New Zealand that never stops fighting, you should not make the mistake of giving the opponent an upper hand.
For Pakistan, these five matches will work as a platform to find their perfect playing 11 and finalize their bowling attack, which is their strength. For New Zealand, it will be more of a series where they try out new young and talented players and see if they can find something X-factor to include in their World Cup plans.
Below, we have done a complete analysis of both squads for the forthcoming Pak vs. NZ T20I series and listed the complete schedule for the series. We have also made our Pak vs. NZ match prediction for the five matches.
Pak vs NZ T20I 2024 – Fixtures
The fixtures for the upcoming Pak vs. NZ T20I five-match series are listed below. The series will begin on Thursday, April 18, 2024, and will conclude on Saturday, April 27, 2024. The matches will be played in Rawalpindi and Lahore, where the pitch usually offers nothing for the bowlers and is as flat as a road. Have a look at the schedule below and brace yourselves to place winning bets on the GUGOBET online betting platform for the Pakistan vs. New Zealand series.
| Match | Date | Time | Venue |
| 1st T20I | April 18, 2024 | 7:30 p.m. IST | Rawalpindi |
| 2nd T20I | April 20, 2024 | 7:30 p.m. IST | Rawalpindi |
| 3rd T20I | April 21, 2024 | 7:30 p.m. IST | Rawalpindi |
| 4th T20I | April 25, 2024 | 7:30 p.m. IST | Lahore |
| 5th T20I | April 27, 2024 | 7:30 p.m. IST | Lahore |
Pak vs NZ T20I 2024 – Squads and Playing 11s
After trying out different options, Babar Azam is back at the helm of this Pakistan team, leading the charge once again as the team’s captain. Mohammad Amir is another face who will be playing international cricket after a long time, and it will be interesting to see how he fares after his long break because if he gets going, he can be a real threat to batters.
Haris Rauf has not been included in the squad for this series, but we expect him to come back to the team for the World Cup. Saim Ayub is an interesting name on the Pakistan roster, and we think he will be Pakistan’s x-factor player in the series.
Pakistan’s squad for the upcoming five-match Pak vs. NZ series:
Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Azam Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Irfan Khan, Saim Ayub, Usman Khan, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Zaman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Naseem Shah, and Usama Mir
Pakistan’s playing 11 for the upcoming five-match Pakistan vs. New Zealand series:
Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abbas Afridi, and Mohammad Amir
As far as the Black Caps are concerned, their regular captain Tim Southee is unavailable, and hence, Michael Bracewell would be heading a completely new-faced New Zealand team in this Pak vs. NZ series. Finn Allen and Adam Milne were ruled out at the last minute due to injuries from the series.
Tim Seifert, James Neesham, Mark Chapman, and Ish Sodhi are the only experienced players on the roster apart from the captain, Bracewell. Jacob Duffy and Ben Sears are the pacers to look forward to, whereas Josh Clarkson and Tim Robinson are two young batters who can turn the tide in New Zealand’s favour in this series.
New Zealand’s squad for the upcoming five-match Pak vs. NZ series:
Tim Seifert (wk), Tom Blundell, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Josh Clarkson, Dean Foxcroft, Cole McConchie, James Neesham, Jacob Duffy, Ben Lister, William O’Rourke, Ben Sears, Ish Sodhi, Tim Robinson, and Zakary Foulkes
New Zealand’s playing 11 for the upcoming five-match Pakistan vs. New Zealand series:
Tim Robinson, Tim Seifert (wk), Josh Clarkson, Michael Bracewell (c), Mark Chapman, James Neesham, Dean Foxcroft, Ish Sodhi, Ben Sears, Jacob Duffy, and William O’Rourke
Pak vs NZ T20I 2024 – Players to watch out for
In the upcoming series, we expect Saim Ayub, the young gun, to be the batter to watch out for from the Pakistan team. Ayub has been in very good form lately, and we think he will score a bunch of runs for Pakistan in this series. He will be batting at number 3 in the series, and if he gets off to a good start, it will be a task for the NZ bowlers to send him back into the hut.
As far as bowling is concerned, Naseem Shah is one bowler we think will have a great series. Naseem is a beautiful new-ball bowler and an even better death bowler. He is coming back into the team after an injury, but we are sure he will be running in full steam to get the white leather talk with batters.
As for the New Zealand team, Tim Seifert is going to be the batter everyone looks forward to. Seifert is an exceptional batting talent who has been around the team for a while but will be given a long rope this time around for all five matches and could prove to be the game-changer for his team.
In the absence of all the senior bowlers, all the onus will be on New Zealand’s marquee leg-spinner, Ish Sodhi. Sodhi is a fantastic spin bowler who takes conditions out of the play with his incredible skills, and according to our Pak vs. NZ match predictions, he will be the bowler to watch out for from the visitors’ camp.
How many times have New Zealand beaten Pakistan?
As far as the head-to-head is concerned, it is surprisingly dominated by Pakistan. Out of the 39 Pakistan vs. New Zealand T20I matches between the two nations, Pakistan has won 21 times, whereas New Zealand has been able to beat them only 17 times. The record may be dominated by Pakistan because New Zealand has never been a good T20i side.
But times have changed, and with a changed squad as well, who knows? New Zealand put out a surprising performance and levelled this head-to-head record after the conclusion of this series. The most recent T20I series between Pakistan and New Zealand was won by New Zealand by a margin of 4-1, and the scoreline might just repeat itself this time around.
Pak vs NZ Match Prediction – Who will win the series?
It is quite clear even before the series begins that it is going to be a battle between the Pakistan bowlers and the New Zealand batters. Since the pitches are going to be batting-friendly, we will inevitably see a lot of sixes being hit in the series. But the real challenge would be how the New Zealand batters take on this Pakistan bowling lineup in their backyard.
According to our experts and their Pak vs. NZ match predictions, the scoreline is going to be in New Zealand’s favour with a margin of 3-2. There is no doubt regarding the fact that this is going to be a competitive series, with both teams giving more than their 100% to get the better of their opponents.
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