Pakistan Seek Series Level Against New Zealand

Queenstown: New Zealand were so dominant in the nine-wicket victory that several key batsmen did not get any time at the crease, and the trial of Brendon McCullum at No 6 was essentially put on ice until the second match here at the Queenstown Events Centre tomorrow.

Hamish Bennett, the strongly built Canterbury fast bowler, was impressive on home debut in Wellington, working up speeds in the mid-140s and hassling the batsmen with bounce. With New Zealand lacking an out-and-out fast bowler since the retirement of Shane Bond, Bennett could be the man who provides teeth to the pace attack.

Such is Queenstown's propensity to produce low-scoring matches, there is every chance of a similar situation developing, especially if New Zealand bowl first tomorrow.

The average first innings score from six completed matches here is 173, with all matches won by the chasing team.

But New Zealand coach John Wright yesterday made it clear he was prioritising results over anything else in the leadup to the World Cup, which starts next month, and said he did not mind that most of his batsmen did not get time in the middle on Saturday.

Wright said Jesse Ryder and Martin Guptill, who put of 84 for the first wicket in 10 overs at Wellington, would be given another opportunity to grow their opening partnership, while Ross Taylor, the only other batsman to get time in the middle on Saturday, would also play.

On otherhand Pakistan's Umar Akmal has lost his way after a spectacular start to his career, which raised hopes that Pakistan had unearthed someone to lend steel to a fragile middle-order. He wasn't picked in the Tests, and his hold on a one-day spot is also shaky. The golden duck on Saturday made things worse, but given his undoubted talented, a substantial innings can't be far.

In bowling department Pakistan's team selection is a lot less straightforward. Shoaib Akhtar will open the bowling, but who will partner him remains to be seen. Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz were rested for the first game after a taxing Test series, and Gul is favourite to take Sohail Tanvir's place in the XI for the second match.

Teams from

New Zealand Daniel Vettori (capt), Hamish Bennett, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum (wk), Nathan McCullum, Jacob Oram, Jesse Ryder, Tim Southee, Jamie How

Pakistan Shahid Afridi (capt), Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Kamran Akmal (wk), Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Tanvir Ahmed, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Ahmed Shehzad

Stats and trivia

• In each of the six previous completed matches in Queenstown, the team winning the toss has chosen to field, and gone on to win the match
• In their only previous match in Queenstown, Pakistan successfully chased down 236, which is the highest total at the venue
• The crowd for the first one-dayer in Wellington was 8299, the lowest since the Westpac Stadium opened in 2000

Match facts
Wednesday January 26, 2011
Start time 11:00 local (22:00 GMT)