*Official* - Pakistan in New Zealand 2010/2011

[James]

Yeah, i have to admit i was keen to have Oram there half just because of his name and past performances but now that i have more confidence in Nathan McCullum's batting ability there is no reason we shouldn't be able to play all our seamers. Hey, if we can win the warm up games and then go on to suck all available confidence from the canada/kenya games then we may be able to have a good performance at the WC.

I know he is a bit raw but I'm especially impressed with Bennett and if he is anything to judge by then we may just have a few decent young bowling options running around in a years time for the black caps.

I had the same thought as you in regard to Oram. We're selecting him on past glories really aren't we and Nathan McCullum has shown with two fifties in this series, he's got what it takes to be our lower order specialist and is a top fielder to have inside the circle as well.

Likewise with Bennett, he's really grown on me. I didn't rate him at all at the beginning and wrote him off quite quickly but he seems to be getting better game by game.

 

[KiWiNiNjA]

I think we've found our playing 11 for the first WC game as well as the batting order.

Luckily we did all that experimenting and rotating, otherwise we would have never known.

 

[Days of Grace]

I guess we can have Nathan at no.7 because there is still Vettori and Mills to come if he doesn't come off.

I'm expecting Nathan to have a good outing with the bat 3 times out of 10, tbh.

 

[Hurricane]

Still can't get over Mills looking upset after he was run out today. I would have been like who cares. 0 not out or run out for 0 - wouldn't matter to me. Is he on some type of performance contract with his batting average or something?

 

[Flem274*]

Still can't get over Mills looking upset after he was run out today. I would have been like who cares. 0 not out or run out for 0 - wouldn't matter to me. Is he on some type of performance contract with his batting average or something?

I think Mills is just one of those ultra competitive people. It was OTT, but hey on the brightside, we know he's passionate about his performance.

 

[smash84]

More New Zealanders in the top ten than Pakistan. Interesting.

quite interesting really. Hafeez at number 1.

 

[Mike5181]

quite interesting really. Hafeez at number 1.

For me the best players were Hafeez and Misbah.

 

[smash84]

Hafeez is a good ODI bowler IMO. In batting he gets starts but doesn't ever take the responsibility to build on those starts and to stay on the crease for a long time (has very few hundreds)

 

[Blakey]

I think Mills is just one of those ultra competitive people. It was OTT, but hey on the brightside, we know he's passionate about his performance.

He's always been a competitive nutter - since primary school.

His anger is more to do with the general atmosphere in the squad. So much pressure put on to perform that even getting run out like that has an impact on how they perform their other roles.

 

[Xuhaib]

always knew this would be a loss Pakistan is not the team that will keep the foot on the paddle once the series is in the bag.Hopefully Razzaq finds forms with the bat he's the most important coponent of our batting unit in od's.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

Congrats NZ supporters for the win. I hope you are all satisfied by the way your team performed and most importantly the NZ final XI for the WC. Best of luck and Let us hope that we have a cracking match in the group stages and progress to the knock out phase

 

[TT Boy]

Younis Khan needs to be dropped. Doesn't bring stability, just causes the run rate to go up and fellow batsman to commit harakiri. Umar Akmal looks lost as well.

Shoaib's presence in the side pretty strange also. Can hardly comeback for a second spell and wasn't trusted to bowl at the death here and in Hamilton. If he can't bowl more than 7 overs then there is no point in playing him.

Good game to watch though I fancy any other top tier nation would have chased down New Zealand's total with balls to spare.

 

[Xuhaib]

think Younis Khan last 2 innings are the best I have seen him bat in an odi since 2007.Sure the scores of 22 & 16 don't look pretty but he was middling the ball findings gaps just got out with soft dismissals reckon his odi form is coming back.

 

[salman85]

Younis Khan needs to be dropped. Doesn't bring stability, just causes the run rate to go up and fellow batsman to commit harakiri. Umar Akmal looks lost as well.

Shoaib's presence in the side pretty strange also. Can hardly comeback for a second spell and wasn't trusted to bowl at the death here and in Hamilton. If he can't bowl more than 7 overs then there is no point in playing him.

Good game to watch though I fancy any other top tier nation would have chased down New Zealand's total with balls to spare.

Younis is the team's best batsman on paper.His form hasn't been as good as Misbah's,but he is easily one of the best no.3 batsman in world cricket.Also he's a top drawer fielder and brings a ton of energy in the field.There is no way that he should or could be dropped.

Shoaib's presence brings pace,still one of the quickest in the world.He's our most experienced bowler,and his fitness level has improved very well since the Asia Cup.He's doing a pretty decent job with the bowl now.Plus with the bowling depth in the side,you Shoaib doesn't even need to bowl 10 overs if he can have an impact in 7-8 overs.He has became capable of bowling spells over 5-6,as he did in England last year.He will hardly be used as a death bowler.He will end up bowling his share before the 40th over,and his second spells are still pretty dangerous.You may want to interview a certain Jonathon Trott for further confirmation.

And no,any team would struggle to top a score of over 300.There's a reason why there have only been a handful of successful chases over 300.The top tier teams you speak of would have lacked motivation too going into a dead rubber.Pakistan still managed to give New Zealand a scare without their most in form batsman.

 

[Flem274*]

Final XIs for both sides I would pick at the WC (assuming Oram is out injured):

New Zealand

McCullum
Guptill
Ryder
Taylor
Styris
Franklin
McCullum, N
Vettori
Mills
Southee
Bennett

Pakistan

Hafeez
Shazad (sic?)
Younis
Misbah
Umar
Kamran
Afridi
Razzaq
Gul
Wahab
Akhtar

 

[Howe_zat]

Flem - neither Ajmal nor Rehman?

I'd say Pakistan should play one of them over Wahab at the WC. They will need a frontline spinner in Asia and since neither Afridi nor Razzaq can be lost for their batting, that means Wahab has to go. I rate Riaz but he seems a little too expensive and Razzaq would be better used with the new ball.

As for which spinner should play I'd rather see Rehman, but suspect they will pick Ajmal.

 

[wellAlbidarned]

It's already been said, but Oram has more than proved he isn't what he once was. This series was pretty much his last chance to show he still had it IMO. Nathan scoring a couple of 50s down the order is pretty much the nail in his coffin, he's shown his batting to be really worth something.

 

[KiWiNiNjA]

And no,any team would struggle to top a score of over 300.There's a reason why there have only been a handful of successful chases over 300.The top tier teams you speak of would have lacked motivation too going into a dead rubber.Pakistan still managed to give New Zealand a scare without their most in form batsman.

Nah, I agree with TT Boy, on Eden Park the top teams would have chased that total down with ease. With the platform NZ set, they should have really got closer to 350, then that would have been competitive against the top sides.

 

[Flem274*]

Flem - neither Ajmal nor Rehman?

I'd say Pakistan should play one of them over Wahab at the WC. They will need a frontline spinner in Asia and since neither Afridi nor Razzaq can be lost for their batting, that means Wahab has to go. I rate Riaz but he seems a little too expensive and Razzaq would be better used with the new ball.

As for which spinner should play I'd rather see Rehman, but suspect they will pick Ajmal.

Woops.

I agree, one of them should come in for Wahab.

 

[smash84]

And no,any team would struggle to top a score of over 300.There's a reason why there have only been a handful of successful chases over 300./QUOTE]

For once I agree with you