🏏ICC Men's T20I WC 2022: Super 12 - Group 1 - PAK vs NED - 30/10/22🏏

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Super 12 - Group 1

Pakistan vs Netherlands on 30/10/2022 at 12:30 PM IST at Perth Stadium, Perth

Wounded Pakistan seek powerplay lift as Netherlands eye big scalp

All eyes are on Babar and Rizwan with Pakistan's World Cup fate no longer in their own hands

After their last-ball heartbreak against India, if Pakistan weren't feeling the heat already in an otherwise chilly Australia, a repeat act against Zimbabwe is bound to make them desperate. Desperate for wins and points to resuscitate their T20 World Cup 2022 campaign.

Pakistan failed to defend 16 off the last over against the arch-rivals, and 13 off the last three balls. When they needed three in as many against the Round 1 qualifiers, they could muster only one and lost two wickets instead. They are in the must-win territory already, and even the six available points they can gather from their last remaining games may not suffice eventually.

In such a pressure-cooker situation, the game against Netherlands perhaps brings some respite even though having burnt their fingers recently, Pakistan would know better than to take them lightly. However, the Dutch are slightly more hungry to get going. Despite a similarly vacant points column, Pakistan's final-ball defeats have shielded them against a drastic plunge in NRR. Netherlands are at the bottom of the six-team group for exactly that reason.

Despite a shaky middle-order, Netherlands did give Bangladesh a late scare only to eventually fall nine short in a chase of 145. However, their bowling has been the primary area of concern. The Dutch have been frequently guilty of leaking more runs than acceptable even by slog-overs standards. In their Round 1 game against Sri Lanka, they gave away 102/4 in the second half, and India plundered 112 for just one wicket the other day. That after having tied down both Asian sides to sub-70 scores in the first half of their batting innings. They're now up against a side that also know to explode in the second half, their batting implosions of late notwithstanding. If Netherlands can get a grip on their bowling, they may be the latest side to add a glorious chapter to the ongoing series of 'Cupsets' Down Under when the odds are heavily stacked against them.

Pitch Report and Weather Forecast:

According to weather reports, the temperature of Perth city of Australia on October 30 (Sunday) will be 17° Celcius during the day and fall to 8° Celcius at night. The sky is expected to be windy and cloudy during the day but will be clear at night.

The chances of rain are 14% during the day and about 8% at night. Hence, the PAK vs NED match is less likely to be affected by rain. The humidity will be 51% during the day and rise to 75% at night. The Perth Stadium in Perth, Australia is an average-scoring ground in T20Is.

The average 1st innings total in T20Is is 142 while the average 2nd innings total is 141 at Perth Stadium. The stadium has witnessed 5 T20I games in the past. England once s posted 208/6 at the stadium. Hence, the stadium can also witness a big total during PAK vs NED clash.

Team News

Pakistan

Tactics and Matchups: Netherlands' batting has revolved around Max O'Dowd, who has scored 276 runs at an average close to 40 and a strike-rate of 120 in the eight T20 World Cup fixtures since the 2021 edition as compared to the others in the top-six, who have together contributed only 457 runs at 12.69. With a mis-firing middle-order to follow, getting the openers out cheaply could be the key to restricting the Dutch to a low score.

Probable XI: Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (C), Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Haider Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah

Netherlands

Tactics & Matchups: Babar Azam and Mohmmad Rizwan's struggles in the powerplay lately wouldn't have escaped the attention of the Dutch. Since Game 2 of the seven-match preparatory T20I series against England at home, where the pair put on a record 203-run stand, they have been both dismissed inside powerplay four times in the 11 fixtures.

Probable XI: Vikramjit Singh, Max O'Dowd, Bas de Leede, Colin Ackermann, Tom Cooper, Scott Edwards (C & wk), Tim Pringle, Logan van Beek, Shariz Ahmad, Fred Klaassen, Paul van Meekeren

Did you know?

- Two games since his return from injury, and this is the first in his T20I career that Shaheen Afridi has gone wicketless in successive games despite bowling his full quota of overs.

- All three of Haris Rauf's wickets in this World Cup have come in the powerplay.

-Roelof van der Merwe, if fit and making a comeback, will be playing his 50th T20I.

In the spotlight

Since the end of the 2021 T20 World Cup, Babar has a strike rate of 126.60 in 27 innings. In the same period, Rizwan's strike rate is 125.22 in 26 innings. They've both contributed to big wins in this period, though, so Pakistan have kept faith in their partnership. They've both failed twice in this World Cup, neither making it out of the powerplay against either India or Zimbabwe. Can they find a way out of their misery?

Both Pakistan openers, though, will need to guard themselves against Paul van Meekeren. The Dutch fast man speaks his mind, and he's quick and can lock batters in their crease with pace and movement, and has been among the most impressive powerplay operators in this tournament, conceding just 30 runs in his 42 balls in that phase.

Stats and trivia:

When was the last time Pakistan won a T20I in Australia? Never. Six T20Is in this country have brought Pakistan five defeats and one no-result.

Shaheen Shah Afridi needs three wickets to become the 11th Pakistan bowler with 50 strikes in T20Is.

Netherlands' only T20I meeting with Pakistan came at the 2009 T20 World Cup, at Lord's, where Kamran Akmal pulled off four stumpings in an 82-run Pakistan win.

Best of luck to both the teams 👍🏼

Thanks for the tag, dear 🤗

Quotes

"Yeah, we've obviously seen that the Pakistan team is beatable, so that's good to know. Obviously, playing them in the World Super League not so long ago in the Netherlands has given us a lot of confidence because we came quite close in those matches. Hoping to get over the line this time. It would be great."

Netherlands coach Ryan Cook

"We haven't started well, but the morale of the team is high. We all saw we played well against India. We couldn't quite close it. Same with the second game. This is cricket. There are always ups and downs, but everybody knows the team efforts. We have belief in each other. We get hurt as much as the fans. We have stuck together, there is still time in this tournament, we will try to put up good cricket for the fans."

Pakistan fast man Haris Rauf

Come on Netherlands 👏