PAK vs NZ 1st T20 Match Prediction & Betting Tips
Pakistan and New Zealand begin their five match T20I series on Thursday evening in Rawalpindi. This will be the host’s first fixture in this format since beating the Black Caps towards the end of January. For New Zealand, they lost their last T20I by 27 runs against Australia. Read on as we preview this match. The game gets underway at 19:00 local time at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on April 18th.
Although Pakistan have had a chaotic period of leadership in this format with Babar Azam re-appointed as captain ahead of this series, they remain a strong side, particularly at home. They are expected to have enough quality and depth to go 1-0 up.
Due to this series taking place during the 2024 IPL, New Zealand have arrived with nowhere near their strongest squad. Only three of the XI who played in their last T20I against Pakistan in January are in the squad and as a result they may struggle.
Pakistan vs New Zealand 3rd T20 Match Live Streaming
TV channels: You can watch this match live on ARY Sports
Live Streaming: The fixture will be live-streamed on Tamasha and Fancode.
PAK vs NZ Match Toss Prediction
All four of the completed T20Is at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium have been won by the team batting second so we predict that both sides will choose to field first ahead of this game.
PAK vs NZ Pitch Report
Overall this is a good batting wicket and the bowlers will have to work hard for their dismissals. Whoever bats first will be looking to post 200+ to be competitive.
Rawalpindi Weather Report
Although the chance of rain will always be under 50%, the percentage does increase as the game progresses. The temperature will be in the low twenties with humidity levels over 70%.
Read on for team previews, betting tips, latest odds, and match prediction for Pakistan vs New Zealand 1st T20 2024
Pakistan Team News & Playing 11
PAK Team News
There are some familiar faces returning to Pakistan’s T20I squad ahead of this series with both Mohammad Amir and Imad Wasim reversing their previous retirements to give themselves a chance of making the 2024 T20 World Cup. Haris Rauf is unavailable for the series due to a shoulder injury.
PAK Key Players
- Mohammad Rizwan- no other batter has scored more T20I runs over the last five years and the keeper-batter-opener is averaging 53.69 from 68 innings in that time frame.
- Babar Azam- the skipper is second only to his opening partner in terms of T20I runs since April 2019. The right-hander has scored 31 international centuries including three in this format.
- Shaheen Shah Afridi- the left-arm pace bowler was Pakistan’s strongest bowler in the series against New Zealand in January taking nine wickets from five games.
- Imad Wasim- the 35 year old left-arm slow bowling all-rounder last played a T20I in April last year but brings two 4+ wicket hauls in T20Is across his career into this match.
PAK Team Form
Pakistan ended a run of six successive defeats in T20Is with their victory over New Zealand in their last game.
Pakistan Predicted Playing 11
Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Irfan Khan, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Usama Mir, Abrar Ahmed
New Zealand Team News & Playing 11
NZ Team News
It is not only the IPL which is keeping New Zealand’s best players out of this series. Opening batter Finn Allen and opening bowler Adam Milne have both picked up injuries with Will Foulkes and Tom Blundell receiving late call-ups to the squad.
NZ Key Players
- Tim Seifert- the keeper-batter comes into this series in strong form after scores of 104, 49, 51 and 41 from his last four innings across first class and T20s.
- Michael Bracewell- due to injury, the batting all-rounder has not been seen in international cricket since March 2023. However, he has a strong record and will be captaining the team in this series.
- Ben Sears- the 26 year old pace bowler impressed during the home series loss against Australia returning figures of 1/22 and 2/29.
- Ish Sodhi- the 31 year old spinner should be able to get turn from this pitch and had a strong series against Pakistan earlier in the year picking up at least one wicket in all four of his appearances.
NZ Team Form
New Zealand lost their final T20I against Pakistan in January before losing all three of their games against Australia in February.
New Zealand Predicted Playing 11
Tim Seifert (wk), Josh Clarkson, Michael Bracewell (c), Tom Blundell, James Neesham, Mark Chapman, Dean Foxcroft, Ish Sodhi, Ben Sears, Ben Lister, Jacob Duffy
Pakistan vs New Zealand Head to Head
Pakistan lead the overall head to head in T20Is against New Zealand 21-17. However, it is New Zealand who have won five of the last six clashes although they did come out on top in the last meeting.
PAK vs NZ Head to Head Stats in T20s
| Matches Played | PAK Won | NZ Won | Draw | NR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 38 | 21 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| Last 5 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Pakistan vs New Zealand Betting Odds
According to the bookies, Pakistan are the favourites to go 1-0 up. New Zealand are 3.40 to win this opening match of the series with the hosts priced at 1.33.
Who will win Pakistan vs New Zealand 1st T20 Match?
New Zealand always manage to select a team who are competitive but with their depleted resources for this series, that may be a tougher challenge than usual. We expect Pakistan to be stronger with bat and ball in this opener.
🏆 Pakistan vs New Zealand Prediction
These sides have played against each other plenty of times over the last 12 months but all players involved in this series will be desperate to put in strong performances with the T20 World Cup less than two months away. We expect New Zealand to be competitive but are backing Pakistan to win this opening match on Thursday evening.
