Pakistan bowl first against New Zealand

Umar Gul fields a ball from New Zealand player Martin Guptill (R) during the sixth one-day international cricket match at Eden Park in Auckland. -AFP Photo

AUCKLAND: Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi won the toss and elected to bowl first in the final one-day international against New Zealand at Eden Park on Saturday.

With the series in the bag for Pakistan, the dead rubber gives them a chance to rest leading players Misbah-ul-Haq and Wahab Riaz to give Asad Shafiq and Sohail Tanvir more game time ahead of the World Cup, starting this month.

For New Zealand, it is a face-saving exercise after winning the first game by nine wickets and then being convincingly beaten in the past three matches after the second game was washed out.

After losing the fifth game in Hamilton on Thursday, to give Pakistan an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the series, the New Zealand players spent 90 minutes locked away in a soul-searching session.

All-rounder Jacob Oram said some home truths were laid out as the players evaluated why they had won only one of their past 16 games.

There was a lot said and thats going to stay within the changing room, but its basically about guys doing their jobs, not looking for excuses or explanations, and just winning matches for New Zealand, Oram said.

We were just trying to get to the bottom of whats going on because its happening too often for it to just be a coincidence.

New Zealand have made two changes from the Hamilton side with Tim Southee and Luke Woodcock coming in for Oram and Jamie How.

Oram was injured in the match warm-up, while regular captain Daniel Vettori remains sidelined with a hamstring strain. Ross Taylor will lead the side.

New Zealand have also ended the experiment of batting Brendon McCullum down the order in a spot he occupied years ago and he will return t! o opener where he has been in recent seasons.

Teams

New Zealand Ross Taylor (captain), Brendon McCullum, Jesse Ryder, Martin Guptill, Scott Styris, James Franklin, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Luke Woodcock, Tim Southee, Hamish Bennett

Pakistan Shahid Afridi (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir

Umpires: Tony Hill (NZL), Steve Davis (AUS)

TV umpire: Billy Bowden (NZL)

Match referee: Alan Hurst (AUS)


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