National Stadium, Karachi has hosted nine ODI games since cricket’s return to Pakistan, as many as six of these were played between Pakistan and New Zealand. But none of these games had as many stakes involved as the upcoming Tri-series Final. In addition to deciding who gets crowned as the winner of this once-in-a-blue-moon ODI tri-series, the final will be a de-facto warm-up game between both sides, who will play the opening game of the Champions Trophy in about five days at the same venue.
New Zealand have come to the final unscathed. They defeated Pakistan and then followed it up with a win against South Africa. The hosts, however, are a fan of walking the path less taken. Conceding a mammoth total of 352 runs in the last game, Pakistan had no realistic chance of getting ahead of South Africa in the race to the final. But they did, and in a manner only befitting of a side as capricious as them.
The only real downside to Pakistan, or perhaps the only one that is bold enough to rival their mercurial nature is that no one, least of all the team itself, is ever certain whether Pakistan will channel their lethal self or take hiding into timidity on a certain day.
Team Overview:
In the last game, Pakistan did what do the best; coming from behind and flying away with the game. After losing the first game, they pulled off a remarkable chase making sure they meet Blackcaps again in the final. Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha were the key players as they both stitched a record partnership and dragged Pakistan into the final despite sanity heralding the contrary. Pakistan will have a few concerns moving to the final ODI of the series. Naseem Shah has been far from his trademark best lately, and similar has been the case with Babar Azam. With the Champions Trophy only a few sleeps away, this is not an ideal situation for Pakistan to be in.
So far in this series, Pakistan have been very lousy in death overs, though they will hope the problem gets resolved with Haris Rauf’s return, potentially in the next game.
There is a reason why New Zealand have won both of their games in this series and that reason is; that the side has checked almost all the boxes. They have spinners. They have pacers. Anchors are doing their job. Hitters are complementing them. Everyone is where they should be. And that has always been New Zealand’s recipe for disaster. The more stable the Kiwis get, the harder they find it to maintain their momentum. Mitchell Santner would hope this does not ring true for them this time around.
Rachin Ravindra will not be available to be selected, as confirmed by the Kiwis’ coach, Gary Stead. This will see Devon Conway opening once again with Will Young.
Pitch and weather report:
The pitch at the National Stadium is once more going to be batting-friendly as witnessed in the last ODI. It will be a pleasant, sunny day in Karachi, without any threats from the rain. Teams chasing have found easy success in Karachi, so the toss-winning skipper should look to field first. Fast bowlers should try to make the most of the new ball, because once it ages a bit, wicket-taking will become very difficult.
Prediction:
The game is going to be a tough competition between both sides but if the hosts manage to keep their cool, it will be quite a task to halt them.
Where to Watch:
Pakistan: Ten Sports, A Sports, Myco App, Tamasha, Tapmad
South Africa: Super Sport
UK: ARY Digital
India: Sony Sports, Fancode App
Sri Lanka: Dialog
