New Zealand win toss, decide to bat against Pakistan

New Zealand decide to bat against Pakistan

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By CricketCountry Staff

Pallekele: Mar 8, 2011

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori won the toss and decided to bat against Pakistan in their World Cup Group A match at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Sri Lanka.

Jesse Ryder is unfit and has been replaced by Jacob Oram in the New Zealand squad. For Pakistan, pacer Shoaib Akhtar and spinner Abdur Rehman return to the team in place of Wahab Riaz and Saeed Ajmal. 

Pakistan, placed at the top of Group A with six points, were last defeated by New Zealand in a World Cup game in 1983. New Zealand have lost six World Cup games since then. 

Teams: 

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Younis Khan, Kamran Akmal (wk), Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi (c), Abdur Razzaq, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Abdur Rehman.

New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum (wk), Jamie How, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, James Franklin, Daniel Vettori (c), Nathan McCullum, Tim Southee. 

Pictures © Getty Images