CHRISTCHURCH: Pakistan is slowly recovering from earlier three wicket loss and scored 140/3 after 35 overs at drinks, with Hafeez 85 and Misbahu Haq 34 both on the batting crease.
Earlier New Zealand captain Ross Taylor won the toss and elected to bowl first in the third one-day international against Pakistan at AMI Stadium here Saturday.Taylor is leading the New Zealand side in the absence of Daniel Vettori, who has been stood down as part of a rotation policy to give all members of the World Cup squad ample game time against Pakistan.
Vettori, opener Jesse Ryder and allrounder James Franklin, who all played in the first match where New Zealand trounced Pakistan by nine wickets, have been rested for this third match after the second game was washed out.
Luke Woodcock will make his ODI debut and veteran new ball bowler Kyle Mills has been brought back into the side for the match to be played in blustery conditions after overnight rain cleared away.
Although the rotation policy has been criticised as disruptive, especially with Ryder coming back from injury and short of game time, Taylor said it had a purpose to serve.
“I don’t think we’ve settled on a top XI at the moment so it gives opportunities for different players to play in positions they might not be used to.
“Jesse got told a while ago that he wasn’t playing in this game and all the players have been told that there is going to be rotation, but hopefully for the last couple of games we have a settled lineup.”Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi said he would also have bowled had he won the toss, but he did not believe the wicket would unduly trouble the batsmen.
“It will be slow and it will help the spinners as well. I think it will be good for batting as well. This is a subcontinental track. The wind is the difference and it will help the fast bowlers.”New Zealand lead the six-match series 1-0.
Teams
New Zealand: Ross Taylor (captain), Martin Guptill, Jamie How, Scott Styris, Kane Williamson, Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram, Luke Woodcock, Kyle Mills, Tim Southee, Hamish Bennett.
Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz.
Umpires: Amiesh Saheba (IND), Gary Baxter (NZL)
TV umpire: Barry Frost (NZL)
Match referee: Alan Hurst (AUS)
