Pakistan All Set To Make A Start

Match facts
September 23, 2012
Start time 1530 local (1000 GMT)
Big Picture
Pakistan, we've been expecting you. The team with the best World Twenty20 record is the last to open its campaign in Sri Lanka. Pakistan have World Twenty20 pedigree. In the first tournament in 2007, they were finalists, and so nearly champions. They won in 2009, and in 2010 they had one foot in the final before Michael Hussey blind-sided them.
They've been put in the toughest group in 2012, with New Zealand and Bangladesh, and will play their first game against the stronger of those teams. Win against New Zealand, and Pakistan are almost certain to make it to the Super Eights; lose, and they will face a must-win against Bangladesh.
The strength of Mohammad Hafeez's side is unquestionably its bowling. In Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi, three bowlers of varied skills, Pakistan possess the highest wicket-takers in Twenty20 internationals. Any of those bowlers can turn a Twenty20 game single-handedly and a collective performance can be devastating. Their batting is less formidable; it can be hot or cold. In the two warm-ups for the World Twenty20, Pakistan chased 186 successfully against India but failed to achieve 112 against England. The challenge, as ever, will be for Pakistan to combine their enviable talent with discipline.
New Zealand go into this game with the opportunity to win Group D. Doing so will make their progress to the Super Eight independent of the result of the Pakistan-Bangladesh fixture. Their evisceration of Bangladesh by 59 runs on Friday was almost faultless. The key battle in that game was tipped to be between New Zealand's batsmen and Bangladesh's spinners. They took 117 off 12 overs from the slow men. A strong performance against a more formidable Pakistan will make people sit up and take notice of a team that isn't considered to be a strong contender for the 2012 title.
Form guide (completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan: LWWWL
New Zealand: WWLLL
Watch out for
The majority of New Zealand batsmen: Brendon McCullum, with his 123 off 58 balls, demolished Bangladesh single-handedly. So aggressive was his approach and so clinical his execution that there was almost no pressure on his team-mates. All they needed to do was give McCullum strike. It's unlikely that anyone will play as explosive an innings against Pakistan, so the contributions need to be more collective to reduce the reliance on McCullum and Ross Taylor.
Saeed and Shahid: In Ajmal and Afridi, not only do Pakistan possess the highest and third highest wicket-takers in this format, but also the third and fourth lowest economy-rates among bowlers who've played at least 20 Twenty20 internationals. Ajmal goes at 6.03 per over on average and Afridi 6.10. They strike and they stifle.
Team news
New Zealand may not make any changes to the XI that beat Bangladesh, but it is likely they will change their batting order. James Franklin, the left-handed allrounder, opened with Martin Guptill in the first game to combat Bangladesh's left-arm spin, but Rob Nicol could return to the top on Sunday.
New Zealand (probable): 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Rob Nicol, 3 Brendon McCullum (wk), 4 Ross Taylor (capt), 5 Kane Williamson, 6 James Franklin, 7 Jacob Oram, 8 Daniel Vettori, 9 Nathan McCullum, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Kyle Mills.
The four players Pakistan are likely to leave out of their starting line-up are Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Sami, Raza Hasan and Yasir Arafat.
Pakistan (probable): 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Imran Nazir, 3 Nasir Jamshed, 4 Kamran Akmal (wk), 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Abdul Razzaq, 9 Sohail Tanvir, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Saeed Ajmal.
Pitch and conditions
The forecast is for some showers in Pallekele. It threatened to rain during the Bangladesh-New Zealand game as well but there were no interruptions. The spinners didn't get much turn either, with the ball coming on to the bat.
Stats and trivia
Pakistan played New Zealand in Pallekele during the 2011 World Cup and fed Ross Taylor a diet of full tosses and deliveries that were too straight. He scored 131 off 124 balls.
New Zealand and Pakistan have played eight Twenty20 internationals and the head-to-head record is 5-3 in Pakistan's favour. New Zealand's three wins, however, came in the last four matches.
In Twenty20 matches over the last 12 months, Afridi and Ajmal have economy-rates of less than six an over. Mohammad Hafeez and Sohail Tanvir conceded 5.82 and 5.94 on average during this period.

Pakistan to Face England In a Warm Up Game

Match Facts
Wednesday 19th September 2012.

Pakistan to face England in a warm up game. Earlier Pakistan defeated India by 5 wickets on Monday in RPS. England Defeated Australia by 6 wickets. According to the Geoff Boycott he thinks it will be a battle of Champions. Pakistan is expected to bring in Abdul Razzaq, Asad Shafiq and Raza Hassan. Though England is expected to go unchanged. Both teams collided last time in Dubai Sports city in February 2012 when England defeated Pakistan.

Pakistan Form
W W L W
England Form
W L W W

The Battle for t20 world supermacy begins today

Match Facts
September 17th 2pm G.M.T

The battle for the t20 Championship begins today when the hosts take on Zimbabwe. Srilanka and Zimbabwe have been head to head in 2 t20 matches and Srilanka has won both of em'.

Pitch Conditions
With heavy gusts expected in the afternoon and evening in Hambantota, some steadying adjustments will have to be made all round. Matches there have been low scoring, largely because the surface area of the field is larger than the MCG, but the boundary rope is being brought in for this tournament. The pitch is expected to have something in it for the seamers, so much so that Brendan Taylor said he does not expect much turn. Temperatures are expected to be warm, between 26 and 28 degrees Celsius, with up to 80% humidity but little chance of rain.

Match will be telecasted on Ptv Sports, Sky Sports 2, ESPN Star Cricket.......

Pakistan starts with a huge Morale Booster

Pakistan 186 for 5 (K Akmal 92*, Hafeez 38, Malik 37*) beat India 185 for 3 (Kohli 75*, Rohit 56, Ajmal 2-22) by five wickets

A day before the t20 world cup Pakistan has defeated India by 5 wickets in a crunch of a game. India won the toss and decided to bat first which proved to be a worthy decision. Pakistani bowlers went for a lot when they started the innings but they came back when they took wickets of Sehwag and Rohit Sharma. India ended their innings on 185 for 3 with Kohli finishing on an unbeaten 75*.

In response Pakistan's start wasn't the best of the starts you would have for a t20 game. Pakistan lost their first wicket at 30 runs when Imran Nazir played an uppish drive. Wickets column then soon changed to 2 when a misunderstanding between the wickets caused Nasir Jamshed his wicket. Hafeez was the next to go. He departed on 38. Afridi came in next but then departed on a second ball duck. The scoreboard read 84-4. Umar Akmal then went for 2 leaving Pakistan in despair at 91-5. It was then the Kamran Akmal show began. Malik along with Akmal provided resistance and Got Pakistan home with 5 balls to spare.
After the match Hafeez said "We knew if India could post that total, we knew we could get it if we worked hard. Kamran Akmal was exceptional. The experience of Malik was also the key. He supported Kamran really well. The bowlers tried hard, but things didn't work out for them today." Dhoni Said "We gave a few too may runs with the new ball, but apart from that it was a good game for all of us. It's a difficult choice [whether to pick an extra bowler]. I have part-timers who can be used, and we are a side that is comfortable playing seven batsmen." 
As per Paper Its Pakistan's first t20 win against India.
Pakistan will play their first match against New Zealand on September 23th.
While India will play their first against Afghanistan on September 19th.

Pakistan Vs India Warm Up Match (Match Summary)