New Zealand v Pakistan 2nd Test, Fantasy Cricket Tips and Playing 11

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by Karthik Atchuta

Fantasy Cricket Tips – New Zealand v Pakistan 2nd Test

Date: 2-6 Jan, 2021 – 3:30am IST
Venue: Hagley Oval, Christchurch

NZ Test Squad: Tom Latham, Tom Blundell, Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Will Young, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Trent Boult, Mitchell Santner

PAK Test Squad: Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail, Imran Butt, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan (c/wk), Faheem Ashraf, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Shaheen Afridi, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Sohail Khan, Zafar Gohar, Naseem Shah

Fantasy XI:

Batsmen: Kane Williamson (c), Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls

WK Batsman: Mohammad Rizwan, BJ Watling

All Rounders: Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam

Bowlers: Trent Boult, Kyle Jamieson (vc), Tim Southee, Shaheen Afridi

Just like the first Test am going with Kane Williamson as my captain and Kyle Jamieson as my vice captain. Why change a super hit combo? A word of caution though – Kane Williamson averages 28.00 from his 13 innings at Chirstchurch.

Tom Latham has the most runs at the venue – 579 runs in 14 innings at an average of 44.53

X-factors for me are Faheem Ashraf and Henry Nicholls – Ashraf’s all round abilities can be a positive for Pakistan in overseas conditions while Henry Nicholls has been that player who adapted to tough situations and helped his team crossing the line.

Bowling wise I went New Zealand all the way with Boult, Southee and Jamieson – as Shaheen Shah Afridi takes the Pakistan quota to 4 players in the fantasy XI.

Ross Taylor and Naseem Shah were 2 players I was tempted to draft in playing XI but couldn’t due to the quality of players at disposal.

Probable Playing XIs:

Pakistan: Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Rizwan(w/c), Faheem Ashraf, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah

New Zealand: Tom Latham, Tom Blundell, Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling (wk), Mitchell Santner, Kyle Jamieson, Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Matt Henry