Pakistan captain Salman Agha won the toss and opted to bat first against New Zealand in the T20 WC Super 8 clash on Saturday. Shaheen Afridi contiunues to remain benched as Babar Azam retained his place in the side. Santner returns for New Zealand after illness, alongside Lockie Ferguson and Ish Sodhi.
"We gonna bat first. We have one change. Fakhar is playing and Nafay is not playing. We have one pacer, Faheem Ashraf - he is a good all-rounder. So we have 2 pacers and lot of spin options. They are a quality side, we know that. We have to play our A game and that is what we look forward to today," Agha said at the toss.
New Zealand made three changes with skipper Mitchell Santner back after missing the last match against Canada due to a stomach issue and Lockie Ferguson and Ish Sodhi also finding a place in the XI.
New Zealand XI: Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (capt), Jimmy Neesham, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson
Pakistan XI: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha (capt), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wk) Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Salman Mirza, Usman Tariq
