Pakistan will tour New Zealand for a five-match ODI and a three-match T20I series that begins from January 3, 2018.
Having won the 2017 Champions Trophy after beating India in the final of the tournament, Pakistan will look to ensure they can continue with the form they had shown in that competition in this away series.
It’s interesting to note that since the end of that Champions Trophy, Pakistan haven’t played a lot of international cricket, having just played against Sri Lanka in a five-match ODI series. And surely enough, they crushed the struggling Lankan side, 5-0 to take the series and stretch their ODI winning run to nine matches in a row.
Pakistan’s record in the shortest format of the game has been excellent too. Other than losing one T20I to the World XI back at home, they have won six other matches and have a 12-2 win-loss record over the past 14 T20 Internationals.
That’s a crazy record to have in the short form of the game but it must be remembered that most of those wins came against Sri Lanka, a team clearly struggling to find its feet in international cricket these days.
It must also be remembered that they will be up against a New Zealand side that doesn’t lose too much at home.
In the recent series against West Indies, New Zealand defeated them 3-0 in the ODIs and almost pulled off an upset in India when they took a 1-0 lead against them and then had a chance to wrap up the three-match series in the final game, losing by six runs in the end.
Even against a team like South Africa, New Zealand lost a fighting series 3-2 earlier in 2017 after having beaten Australia 2-0 in the Chappell-Hadlee series.
Pakistan ODI Squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Aamer Yamin,Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Nawaz, Rumman Raees, Shadab Khan, Shoaib Malik
Pakistan T20 Squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Aamer Yamin, Ahmed Shehzad, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf,Fakhar Zaman, Harris Sohail, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Nawaz, Rumman Raees, Shadab Khan, Umar Amin
New Zealand ODI Squad: Kane Williamson (captain), Colin Munro, Doug Bracewell, Henry Nicholls, Lockie Ferguson,Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Mitchell Santner, Ross Taylor, Tim Southee, Todd Astle, Tom Latham, Trent Boult
New Zealand T20 Squad: Kane Williamson (captain), Anaru Kitchen, Ben Wheeler, Colin de Grandhomme, Colin Munro, Glenn Phillips, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson (2nd and 3rd games only), Martin Guptill, Mitchell Santner, Ross Taylor (1st game only), Seth Rance, Tim Southee (1st and 3rd games only), Tom Bruce, Trent Boult (2nd and 3rd games only)
All in all, things look quite interesting heading into this Pakistan tour of New Zealand and the schedule & live streaming options can be found below. PAK vs NZ 2018 series schedule is placed below.
Pakistan tour of New Zealand 2018 Schedule
| Date & Time | Pakistan vs New Zealand 2018 Schedule |
|---|---|
| Sat Jan 6 11:00 local | 22:00 GMT (prev day) |
New Zealand vs Pakistan 1st ODI, Basin Reserve, Wellington |
| Tue Jan 9 11:00 local | 22:00 GMT (prev day) |
New Zealand vs Pakistan 2nd ODI, Saxton Oval, Nelson |
| Sat Jan 13 11:00 local | 22:00 GMT (prev day) |
New Zealand vs Pakistan 3rd ODI, University Oval, Dunedin |
| Tue Jan 16 14:00 local | 01:00 GMT |
New Zealand vs Pakistan 4th ODI, Seddon Park, Hamilton |
| Fri Jan 19 11:00 local | 22:00 GMT (prev day) |
New Zealand vs Pakistan 5th ODI, Basin Reserve, Wellington |
| Mon Jan 22 16:00 local | 03:00 GMT |
New Zealand vs Pakistan 1st T20, Westpac Stadium, Wellington |
| Thu Jan 25 19:00 local | 06:00 GMT |
New Zealand vs Pakistan 2nd T20 Eden Park, Auckland |
| Sun Jan 28 19:00 local | 06:00 GMT |
New Zealand vs Pakistan 3rd T20, Bay Oval, Mt Maunganui |