Pakistan v Netherlands – Litmus test for Pakistan 2007 twenty20 World Cup runners-up Pakistan are on verge of exit from the tournament and now they need to perform against Dutch to stay alive in the twenty20 2009 World Cup. Pakistan loss to England in their first game has done lots of damage to their net run rates which will eventually come into play when all three teams squared up on same points. The damage done to Pakistan's net run-rate means it is not enough for them to beat the Netherlands at Lord's. They not only need to beat Netherlands but beat them convincingly to advance forward to Super Eight Stage. Pakistan team is well aware of the situation what they need to do to stay alive. Here is the scenario: If they bat first then they must beat Netherlands by the margin of more than 30 Runs and if they bat second then they must achieve the target within 16 overs. Pakistan have lots of worry because Rain is forecasted at Lord’s and if that happens without being a bowl bowled then Pakistan have to pack their bags early in the tournament. Pakistan exit will make the job easier for Sri Lanka and New Zealand in the next round in Group F as they could be placed in groups with Netherlands and Ireland. Group E is tougher and we can call it as “group of death” as all teams are in form and only better team which will play better cricket on a particular day can qualify for the semi final berth. India, England, South Africa and West Indies are placed in Group E after Australia early exit from the tournament. Coming to the game between Netherlands and Pakistan, Yasir Arafat is already ruled out of the game due to hamstring injury and Sohail Tanveer is likely to take his place. Kamaran Akmal is likely to open the innings with Ahmed Sehzad. Likely Playing XII for both teams (Match is schedule to begin at 18:00 PM India Time on 9th Of June) Pakistan: Ahmed Shehzad, Kamran Akmal (WK), Salman Butt, Shoaib Malik, Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan (Captain), Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer, Saeed Ajmal. Netherlands: Alexei Kervezee, Darron Reekers, Ba Zuiderent, Tom de Grooth, Peter Borren, Ryan ten Doeschate, Daan van Bunge, Edgar Schiferli, Jeroen Smits (Captain/WK), Pieter Seelaar, Dirk Nannes. New Zealand v South Africa – Both teams looks to register a win to boost their confidence Both New Zealand and South Africa already qualified for the Super Eights with a thumping win over Scotland. First New Zealand beaten Scotland in a rain reduced game by chasing 90 runs in 6 overs and then South Africa register an emphatic win with the margin of 130 runs. Both teams will look to fine tune their weak area before the big Super Eight stages. Both teams have power hitter in their lineup and the way they hit the ball in their first outings was frightening. So far South Africa is the only team who have won their matches more convincingly than the others, However it will interesting to see how they perform against stronger side like England, India and West Indies in the next stage. With both teams already qualified for the Super Eight they would like to give chance to some other players. Daniel Vettori is still to recover from his Shoulder injury and he doesn’t want to take chance considering the situation they were in. Likely Playing XII for both teams (Match is schedule to begin at 22:00 PM India Time on 9th Of June) New Zealand Squad: Brendon McCullum (Captain), Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor, Neil Broom, Scott Styris, Peter McGlashan (WK), James Franklin, Kyle Mills, Ian Butler, Iain O'Brien, Brendon Diamanti. South Africa Squad: Graeme Smith (Captain), Jacques Kallis, Herschelle Gibbs, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Mark Boucher (WK), Albie Morkel, Roelof van der Merwe, Morne Morkel, Justin Ontong, Robin Peterson. |
