New Zealand bat as they look for semi-final sealing win

Toss New Zealand chose to bat vs Pakistan

Sophie Devine called it right at the toss in Dubai and New Zealand chose to bat against Pakistan in their last league match of the Women’s T20 World Cup. A win would be enough for New Zealand to qualify for the semi-final at the expense of India, who will be nervously watching and wanting Pakistan to chase their target after 10.4 overs, assuming it is 101 runs or under, in order to make the knockouts for the fourth successive time.

Pakistan were bolstered by the return of regular captain Fatima Sana, and she replaced legspinning allrounder Tuba Hassan in the XI. That gives them three seam-bowling options with Aliya Riaz and Iram Javed also in the mix. The last time they played against New Zealand, Pakistan defeated them for the first time in a bilateral T20I series – a 2-1 return in New Zealand in December 2023.

Against a right-hand heavy Pakistan line-up, New Zealand brought in left-arm spinner Fran Jonas for offspinner Leigh Kasperek, who played against Sri Lanka with a fair few left-handers in. Devine wanted to once again post a tall total when the surface will be better for batting saying, “if anything, this surface might deteriorate as the night goes on.”

The game was being played on the same strip on which New Zealand played India. One square boundary (63m) is significantly longer that the other (53m) with the cover pocket being the longest hit at 74m.

New Zealand: 1 Suzie Bates, 2 Georgia Plimmer, 3 Amelia Kerr, 4 Sophie Devine (capt), 5 Brooke Halliday, 6 Maddy Green, 7 Isabella Gaze (wk), 8 Lea Tahuhu, 9 Rosemary Mair, 10 Eden Carson, 11 Fran Jonas

Pakistan: 1 Muneeba Ali (wk), 2 Sidra Amin, 3 Sadaf Shamas, 4 Nida Dar, 5 Omaima Sohail, 6 Aliya Riaz, 7 Iram Javed, 8 Fatima Sana (capt), 9 Syeda Aroob Shah, 10 Nashra Sandhu, 11 Sadia Iqbal

S Sudarshanan is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @Sudarshanan7

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