Birmingham: Their campaign revived by a win over South Africa, Pakistan will continue their battle of survival when they face an unbeaten New Zealand in a must-win World Cup clash here on Wednesday.
Pakistan faced severe criticism after their loss to arch-rivals India, but their 49-run win over South Africa breathed life into their campaign but the road ahead is a tough one.
With just two wins and three losses, Pakistan are in the seventh spot with five points from six games.
Sarfaraz Ahmed and his men will now not only have to win the remaining three matches, starting with New Zealand, but also hope that the results in other matches favour them to salvage any hopes of a semifinal berth.
While pacer Mohammad Amir has been their biggest star, claiming 15 wickets, none of the other bowlers have backed him, which has affected their campaign.
Their batting line-up too lacked spark before the left-handed Haris Sohail, who was dropped after the opening game, made a strong comeback with a 59-ball 89 to help Pakistan post a challenging 308/7 against South Africa.
Shadab Khan and Wahab Riyaz also chipped in with three wickets in their last game after Amir once again delivered, with two scalps.
While the batting and bowling units delivered against the Proteas, fielding is an area of concern for Pakistan and Sarfaraz too admitted that the team will need to pull up their socks.
"We have to work harder on fielding. Again we dropped so many catches (against South Africa), some straightforward and some half-chances. All three matches now are very crucial and we have to sort it out," Sarfaraz had said after the match.
New Zealand, on the other hand, have been invincible so far.
The Black Caps, led by inspirational skipper Kane Williamson, have been on a roll ever since they steamrollered Sri Lanka in their opening match.
New Zealand looked vulnerable against South Africa and the West Indies, but Williamson's twin hundreds helped them seal the wins.
Williamson is their highest run-getter in the tournament so far. Ross Taylor too has been among the runs, but openers Colin Munro and Martin Guptill have been struggling.
Their bowling unit, which includes Trent Boult and Lockie Ferguson, too has been in good form, while New Zealand also have two destructive all-rounders in Jimmy Neesham and Colin de Grandhomme in their ranks.
The Kiwis have struggled to complete their quota of overs within the stipulated time and Williamson could be handed a suspension if the over-rate is slow in one more match.
The teams (from): Pakistan: Sarfaraz Ahmed (capt & wk), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Hasan Ali, Shahdab Khan, Mohammed Hafeez, Mohammed Hasnain, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Wahab Riaz, Mohammed Aamir, Shoaib Malik, Imad Wasim, Asif Ali.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (capt), Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (wk), Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Tom Blundell.
Match starts at 3 pm IST
