Published: Mar 03, 2015, 02:54 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 03, 2015, 02:54 PM (IST)
Napier: Squeezing out a narrow win against minnows Zimbabwe in their last game, Pakistan would now look to put up an improved batting display in order to raise their net run-rate when they take on another International Cricket Council (ICC) Associate nation, United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the World Cup Pool B match on Wednesday. Pakistan vs UAE, ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, Pool B Match 25 at Napier: Preview
Pakistan’s batting woes continued even against Zimbabwe, before they managed to eke out a scrappy 20-run win in their last tie at Brisbane, to finally open their account in the World Cup. The 1992 edition winners looked far from their once dominating self in the two earlier defeats against arch foes India and the West Indies. SCORECARD: Pakistan vs UAE in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
Owing to their poor net run-rate, which stands at -1.37, Pakistan are placed second last in the Pool B table ahead their tomorrow’s opponents United Arab Emirates. Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has warned that his team couldn’t afford any more slip-ups. “From now on we have to play every game as it is a knockout match,” Misbah has said. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Wahab Riaz aiming to become genuine all-rounder
Pakistan had struggled to score 235 for seven against Zimbabwe with only Misbah contributing with the bat yet again. Tomorrow would be a great opportunity for the likes of Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Nasir Jamshed, Ahmed Shehzad to be back among runs against a lowly UAE.
In the bowling department, Pakistan are likely to play leggie Yasir Shah considering UAE’s weakness against spin. As far as UAE are concerned, they have lost all their three matches so far and are languishing at the bottom of table in the 14-nation quadrennial extravaganza. The only UAE batsman to have made substantial contribution is Shaiman Anwar with scores of 67, 106 and 35 so far in the tournament. The team would bank heavily on him tomorrow as well and would certainly take their chances against an off-colour Pakistan side.
UAE skipper Mohammad Tauqir, however, would be satisfied with his team giving its 100 per cent on the field. He said the whole tournament is a learning experience for them. “This whole tournament is a learning experience for us,” he said.
