The hosts are unlucky to miss one of their key players in Jesse Ryder who is still recovering from an abductor strain which he picked up during his stint in the IPL. Ryder’s place has gone to Peter Fulton who has a mediocre average of under 25.00 and just a fifty in the 8 Tests so far in his career. It could be a toss up between Fulton and Tim McIntosh in the end. McIntosh is fresh from a century against Pakistanis at Queensland which could give him the nod ahead of Fulton.

Apart from Bond, medium pacer Daryl Tuffey makes a comeback in the Test team after similar adventures in the rebel Indian Cricket League. Most likely Tuffey could sit out with New Zealand already having Chris Martin and Iain O’Brien in the ranks to partner with Bond.

New Zealand Squad for first Test at Dunedin : Daniel Vettori (Captain), Tim McIntosh, Daniel Flynn, Ross Taylor, Peter Fulton, Martin Guptill, Grant Elliott, Brendon McCullum (wk), Iain O’Brien, Shane Bond, Jeetan Patel, Daryl Tuffey, Chris Martin

Brief Scores : New Zealand Invitation XI 234 and 231/2 (McIntosh 131* Flynn 56, Abdur Rauf 1/11 Fawad Alam 1/46) drew with Pakistanis 286

The Pakistanis had a bad start though with the bat losing Khurram Manzoor cheaply. They finished Day 1 of the 3-day match at 14 for 1 in 9 overs of batting. Imran Farhat on 10 and Fawad Alam on 0 are at the crease for the tourists. This match could be a good eposure for young Umar Akmal who is lining up for a Test Match Debut at Dunedin.

New Zealand Invitation XI : Craig Cumming, Tim McIntosh, BJ Watling, Daniel Flynn, Grant Elliott (Captain), Tarun Nethula, James Franklin, Reece Young (Wicket Keeper), Tim Southee, Iain O’Brien, Daryl Tuffey and Brent Arnel

Pakistan Test Squad : Mohammad Yousuf (Captain), Salman Butt, Khurrum Manzoor, Imran Farhat, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Fawad Alam, Faisal Iqbal, Kamran Akmal (Wicket Keeper), Danish Kaneria, Saeed Ajmal, Sarfraz Ahmad (Wicket Keeper), Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer, Abdur Rauf

Shahid Afridi won the toss in this second and final match and his side batted first. The openers put on 40 in 4.3 overs before last match hero Imran Nazir got bowled by Butler for a 12-ball 19. Butler then went on to remove Kamran Akmal (26 from 22) just a couple of overs after Nazir’s wicket. Pakistan fought back after this phase through Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi. The Pakistan Skipper came up with a 17-ball 22 while Umar Akmal stayed right till the end with an unbeaten 56 from 49 balls with 5 fours and a six. The youngster also picked up the Man of the Match for this responsible knock. Butler did well for the Kiwis taking 3 for 28.

The Kiwis were off to a dull start with 46 for 2 on the board in 8.1 overs. Skipper Brendon McCullum restrained himself from playing the flashy innings and tried to guide New Zealand through to victory. But he fell in the penultimate over with still 22 needed to win from 10 balls. McCullum scored 47 from 41 balls with 3 fours and a six. Scott Styris chipped in with 43 from 33 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes but couldn’t finish the game in New Zealand’s favour. The Kiwis finished at a pale 146 for 5. The Pakistani Captain Shahid Afridi was named as the Player of the Series.

The Black Caps were a weakened unit going into this match with Skipper Daniel Vettori opting out because of showing the after effects of taking a blow around his ear from a Mohammad Aamer bouncer in the 2nd ODI. The New Zealanders did well to keep Pakistan down to 56 for 2 in 8 overs after removing the Akmal Brothers cheaply. Imran Nazir at one end was doing all the damage with his crisp hitting but the opener couldn’t go beyond a 38-ball 58 (with 5 fours and 4 sixes). Skipper Shahid Afridi clouted a six over long on but his innings was just a cameo with 24 from 16 balls. Apart from Nazir and Afridi, there weren’t any scores coming in from the rest of the batsmen.

Pakistan had a good couple of last overs thanks to Razzaq (26* from 15 balls) and Sohail Tanvir (12 from 8 balls). Shane Bond was the pick of the bowlers giving away just 17 besides taking two wickets in his 4 overs. Aaron Redmond with his flighted leg breaks took the important wickets of Afridi and Malik but in the course also strained his groin.

After a sorry first over that went for 17 runs, Mohammad Aamer along with Sohali Tanvir struck back to make inroads for Pakistan. The inform Brendon McCullum who was leading the side got out square driving after a 13-ball 19 and was followed by Ross Taylor who got out to another loose cut shot. Pakistan kept on getting wickets regularly and the job for the spinners became too easy. The Kiwis were bowled out for 112 in 18.3 overs with regular opener Aaron Redmond not coming to bat at all. Imran Nazir got the Man of the Match award. The second and final T20I is tonight at this same venue.

Pakistan will be led by Shahid Afridi and they have three fresh players in Imran Nazir, Fawad Alam and Sohail Tanvir. New Zealand have some injury worries and will go into the match without Jacob Oram, Kyle Mills and James Franklin.

The match is at 20:00 local or 16:00 GMT and the second and final T20I is at the same time tomorrow.

New Zealand won a crucial toss and elected to bat first. They were setting themselves nicely for the 300-mark after a lovely opening start of 72 in 11.3 overs. Redmond’s slash at thirdman finally got some smiles in the Pakistani fielders. Off spinner Saeed Ajmal made it 88 for 2 when he forced a leading edge from Martin Guptill in the 17th over. It was the turn of the Kiwis to fight back and they did it through a 50-run stand between Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor. Shoaib Malik broke the partnership when he got a return catch from the dangerous McCullum (76 from 78 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes).

Pakistan were red hot in the middle overs with the spin trio of Ajmal, Afridi and Malik bowling plenty of dot balls to pile up the pressure on the Kiwis. The batsmen too were not good enough to get their bats down on time to block some deadly quicker ones. New Zealand out of nowhere, from 138 for 3 slipped to 198 for 9. They finished with a disappointing 211 all out in 46.3 overs. Ross Taylor scored 44 from 69 before he played across the line to get lbw to Ajmal. Broom was lbw to a skidding googly from Afridi. Skipper Vettori and Jacob Oram were both lbw to Ajmal’s quick skidding deliveries that came back with the arm. Saeed Ajmal bowled a magic spell indeed with 4 for 33 in his 10 overs. Shoaib Malik did a good job along with Afridi at a time when Ajmal left the field due to cramps.

Pakistan got off to a solid start, with 47 on the board in over 8 overs. Vettori had to bring himself in early and he provided the opening by striking the pad of Khalid Latif (19). In the 11th over, an out-of-form and a totally nervous Younis Khan ran out a well set Salman Butt (25). A ball later, the Pakistani Captain got dismissed for 3 from 16 balls after edging an away going one off Bond. Pakistan were now on the backfoot at 51 for 3 and the Kiwis were smart enough to control the match after this.

A series of short balls brought the wicket of Shoaib Malik which was followed up with three big wickets that of Umar Akmal (edging a cut shot), Shahid Afridi (edging a booming drive on the up) and Kamran Akmal (playing a horrendous pull shot). The last hope – Abdul Razzaq was run out and Pakistan were embarassed at 86 for 8. The Black Caps had to wait about 10 overs before they could get rid off Umar Gul off a pick up shot to deep mid wicket.

The match did not finish quickly as expected as the 10th wicket pair of Aamer and Ajmal could succeed in prolonging it further and further. Aamer started a possible fightback with three slog sweeps for three sixes off Vettori. The left hander never looked in trouble and even played a glorious inside out cover drive off Shane Bond. Along with Ajmal, he brought the target down unknowingly and moments later, Pakistan were nervously inching towards a victory with just 13 more needed to win from the final two overs. Aamer was confident having got past a maiden ODI fifty but his partner Ajmal left him down in the end after hooking in the air to fine leg in the first ball of the last over with Pakistan needing 8 runs to win off 6 balls.

Saeed Ajmal was dismissed for 33 (from 44 balls with 2 fours) while his partner Mohammad Aamer was the hero with an unbeaten 73 from 81 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes. They almost robbed what could have been a famous victory for Pakistan in the end and leaving Vettori furious. For New Zealand, the best bowler was Jacob Oram with 3 for 20 in 9.1 overs but the opening in the match was certainly given by Vettori and Bond. Aamer got the Man of the Match for his all-round efforts while Brendon McCullum was given the Player of the Series.

Surprisingly, the Skipper himself – Younis Khan has been the culprit so far in both the matches. In the first match, he got out playing a reckless drive when Pakistan didn’t even open its account and in the second game, he never took any risks that were needed with the required run rate climbing up beyond the middle order’s reach. Younis will have to lead the team from the front and with Afridi being consistently successful, it looks like a lot of pressure is mounting on the present Pakistan Captain. Younis performs under pressure, one knock which proves is a century against India in the Kitply Cup Final when his team was chasing 300 plus target. So Pakistan can pin their hopes on him to come good in today’s third and final ODI.

The Kiwis will be hoping to win the toss and bat again. Not sure if Brendon McCullum can strike gold twice so its important for someone like Ross Taylor to play to his potential. The young man is a class act but is not that mature enough to bring out the best from himself on a consistent basis. I guess just occupying the crease should be enough for this talented Ross Taylor. With the kind of shots he has got, a slow start can always be converted into a run-a-ball knock within no time.

Another player who is having a certain problem is Salman Butt. His temperament is surely proved after a century in front of a 100,000 people in Kolkata against India a few years back. Butt is a good player to watch because of his unique wristy drives on the off side. The left hander has plenty of problems, he has done enough damage I suppose for Pakistan with his slow batting. If I remember he was instrumental in Pakistan’s loss in the T20 World Cup final against India in 2007 because of playing too many dot balls. Well the same had happened in the second ODI as well, so Butt has got to change his game plan slightly. He needs to show the urgency in his batting so that the middle order batsmen do not get burdened of scoring runs quickly all the time. I have this gut feeling that in an ODI, Pakistan should not have two specialist openers. They should have atleast one opener who can do the demolishing act during the 1st powerplay when the ball is coming onto the wicket.

Pakistan seriously needs to tinker with its top order. It will be good if either Kamran Akmal or Shoaib Malik open the innings. The second ODI saw lot of six hitters including Mohammad Yousuf getting wasted under the pressure of achieving the tough task of getting about 160 runs in the last 20 overs. And again, Umar Akmal is needed for Pakistan, it was shocking to see him sit on the bench in the last ODI. Either Khalid Latif or Salman Butt should be dropped for this decider to make way for Umar Akmal.

Well to round off, Pakistan’s chances of a win today is more when they bat first, get about 250 and leave the rest to their bowling. New Zealand’s chances are by batting first too but they would need 300 like in the last game. Their fielding will make sure that Pakistan will have to chase that extra 20-30 runs always.

New Zealand found a way of beating Pakistan today which was to bat first and post a good total on board. They did that through Brendon McCullum’s 131 in the first session. It was positive cricket right from the decision taken by Vettori after winning the toss. They lost Aaron Redmond lofting one flat to mid off in the 5th over but recovered quickly with Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill playing good shots. Mohammad Aamer didn’t look that great today and the pitch too looked very good for batting with zero lateral movement.

It was only in the 24th over that Pakistan could finally break the partnership between McCullum and Guptill after the latter was caught at sweeper covers. Guptill was in fine touch having lofted a couple of sixes in a well paced 62 that laid the foundation for the Kiwis at 147 for 2. However, little did he know that his exit was paving way for a mini collapse with three wickets falling in the space of 23 balls including that of his own. Ross Taylor failed again and this time inside edged a slider from Afridi in the 25th over. Three overs later, Scott Styris was run out after ball watching rather than responding to his partner.

New Zealand slipped to 160 for 4 when Skipper Daniel Vettori joined McCullum. Vettori showed all his maturity to hang in there along with McCullum and steer New Zealand out of trouble. Vettori was even hit on the helmet grill by a nasty short one from Mohammad Aamer. The left hander perished in the 38th over but not before he took NZ past 200 with McCullum. Vettori scored 30 from 33 in a partnership of 54 for the 5th wicket. McCullum after that completed his second ODI century and got New Zealand to a commanding 274 for 7 in the 47th over when he dragged a slog onto the stumps. The NZ Wicket Keeper scored 131 in 129 balls with 14 fours and 3 sixes. Big man Jacob Oram remained unbeaten on a run-a-ball 33 to guide the Black Caps to 303. It was an off day to all the bowlers except Shahid Afridi who got 2 for 49.

The Pakistani opening pair of Khaled Latif and Salman Butt no doubt put on a solid opening stand but they never could stamp their authority on the bowlers. The two openers kept New Zealand interested in the game as the required run rate was never coming down below the 6.00 mark. In the 17th over, Khalid Latif’s stay in the middle was finished by a Vettori arm ball. Latif scored 45 in 52 balls in an opening partnership of 77 and he struck the ball very sweetly today unlike the 1st ODI.

Pakistan just didn’t get the move on even after the arrival of their Skipper Younus Khan. The boundaries were eluding him and Salman Butt which just kept on adding up the pressure on the team. In the 28th over, Younis Khan’s 37-ball 19 came to a halt after getting brilliantly caught by Ross Taylor at mid wicket. Styris was the bowler who broke this 47-run stand gave two more deadly blows in succession dismissing last match heroes Afridi (first ball duck getting caught at mid wicket and Kamran Akmal (4) slashing one to covers. Pak were now at 133 for 4 and moments after that lost Salman Butt (59 from 81) through a run out.

The experienced trio of Yousuf, Malik and Razzaq couldn’t do much about bringing Pakistan back in the game as the match was already lost by then with as many as 170 to win from 19.3 overs with five wickets in hand. Yousuf was done in by an arm ball from Vettori in the 35th over and Malik after a cameo of 26 holed out to deep covers. Razzaq got caught at long off after a decent knock of 35 from 31 balls which included a six. Pakistan got bowled out in 47.2 overs for 239. The most successful Kiwi bowler was Scott Styris with 4-0-23-3. McCullum got the Man of the Match for a responsible century that held the innings for NZ.