Pakistan and New Zealand will face off in Mcleans Park here in the fourth One-day International on Tuesday as the series is equalled at 1-1 after Pakistan`s victory at Christchurch on Saturday.
Pakistan showed their real aggression in third ODI where Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal and Misbah-ul-Haq did the job with bat which also reminded cricket fans old days of building innings in initial overs and then going for everything in death overs.
With firepower that Pakistan possess in the middle and late middle-order including Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal and Wahab Riaz, they can afford really to play at around four runs in an hour till 30 overs mark and then turn it on in final stages of the innings.
Now as both teams have won one match apiece, all eyes are on Napier where a fierce battle is expected as Kiwis will have their regular captain Daniel Vettori back in ranks while Pakistan are expected to replace Sohail Tanvir with either Abdur Rehman or Shoaib Akhtar.
Good thing for Pakistan is that their batsmen have finally started to find some form with Mohammad Hafeez and Umar Akmal both looked in great touch in the third ODI while skipper Shahid Afridi also silenced his many critics with a strong show at AMI Stadium.
On the other hand, New Zealand are still struggling to find just perfect batting order as they have tried Brendon McCullum down the order to give their middle order some strength.
However, it`s quite a questionable approach as they already have Jacob Oram there and demoting McCullum so lower in order actually gives their opposition chance to stop scoring rate right at the top.
Black Caps team management is more eager to use this ODI series as an opportunity to experiment rather than winning it as it is expected that coach John Wright will try new combinations at Napier.
Vettori said he found the right balance in his team difficult in home conditions, which favour pace over spin bowling because of quick and bouncy wickets.
“It seems whatever balance we go in with, we don`t quite have enough batters or not quite enough bowlers, and maybe that just could be the conditions.
“New Zealand conditions dictate you might need that extra seamer, but when we get to India you can play more fiddly bowlers. It`s probably not like for like but you just want guys in form and feeling good about themselves, and most of that will come from winning,” Vettori said.
Pakistan have won two out of their last five matches while New Zealand only won one match from their last clashes.
New Zealand Cricket is far from disappointed with the empty stadiums that have so far greeted the Black Caps and Pakistan this summer.
Ninety-thousand tickets have been sold for the tour to date, which is ten-thousand below budget. That equates to between two to three hundred thousand dollars.
CEO Justin Vaughan said all things considered the tour was going well.
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