Pakistan vs New Zealand 1st ODI 2009: Preview and Live Score

To get live score and updates of the 2^nd ODI visit the following entry:

Pakistan vs New Zealand 2nd ODI 2009 Live Action Updates

For live score and updates of the match, visit the following entry:

Pakistan vs New Zealand 1st ODI 2009 Live Action Updates
Pakistan and New Zealand are going to play in the first one day international match tomorrow in Abu Dhabi. It is a day night match and it is good for the players because UAE is a desert country. You know that because of security concerns, no foreign team is interested to visit Pakistan and that is why, Pakistani cricket team is playing the matches in UAE and next year, Pakistan will play home matches in England. The security condition in Pakistan is volatile and no one really knows when Pakistan can host a cricket match again. Anyway, it is gong take place on a weekday (Tuesday) 3^rd November 2009 and I am not expecting a huge crowd.

Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi is the venue and the match would start at 15:00 local 11:00 GMT and 16:30 IST. It should be 4 PM in Pakistan and that is why, it will be an ideal time for the TV viewers in the country. Both the two teams have a lot to prove. Pakistan was out of Champions Trophy 2009 at the semifinal and they lost to New Zealand. As a result, many people became very angry in the country and even there was an allegation of some kind of match fixing. Cricket is still the most popular sports in Pakistan and the people here are very emotional about their national team.

A series against New Zealand should not have been that much important to the cricket fans in Pakistan. However, because they lost to New Zealand in the semifinal of ICC Champions Trophy 2009 in October 3, the cricket fans are now dying to see a total demolition of the Kiwis in this series. Of course, it will not be easy because New Zealand players also want to win the series.

The bad news for New Zealand is that Kyle Mills may not play tomorrow. Cricinfo wrote:

"Kyle is a doubt for the game as he's got a side strain or shoulder injury," said captain Daniel Vettori. "I think everyone knows he's the No. 1 bowler in the world in one-day cricket so if he misses out it'll be a big loss for us."

New Zealand came into the series without opener Jesse Ryder, fast bowler Daryl Tuffey and allrounder Grant Elliott. In fact, they may also be without another pace bowler with Ian Butler picking up a knee injury while playing for Otago in the recently-concluded Champions League Twenty20.

Thus, you can see that New Zealand team is suffering from injuries and that can cause a lot of problems for them. In the current series between Australia and India, we have seen team Australia suffering from injury problems and that is why, they have become very weak in every field.

Pakistan captain Younis Khan has perhaps fewer problem than his Kiwi counter part but the main problem is that Pakistan is weak in fielding. Younis Khan has requested all his team mates to focus on fielding. Times of India reported:

Fielding let Pakistan down when the two teams met in last month's semi-final of the Champions Trophy in South Africa, where Younis himself dropped a sitter off Grant Elliott which cost his team dearly.

"We need to field very well, and this is one area where we need improvement as New Zealand have a clear edge on us in this department," said Younis during the unveiling of the series on Monday.

Historically, Pakistan is one of the lower ranked teams when it comes to fielding, and Younis was quick to point out the grey area.

Andy Moles resigned as the coach of New Zealand cricket team recently. As a result, there will be a lot of pressure on the captain Daniel Vettori. Well, recently, Pakistan captain also resigned and then he was reinstated.

BBC reported:

As the 'home' team, however, Pakistan will be under greater pressure, not least because of the row which saw Younus offer his resignation after match-fixing allegations by a member of the National Assembly's standing committee on Sports.

It was turned down by the Pakistan Cricket Board, who insist Younus will remain as skipper until the 2011 World Cup.

He has now turned his attention back to cricket and will lead a squad showing a number of significant changes to that which took part in the Champions Trophy, including the return of all-rounder Abdul Razzaq and opener Imran Farhat.

As for live score, several web sties will provide it:

Cricinfo

action8cricket

Stickiewicket

Cricketworld

Cricket Next

Cricket Updates

Hopefully, it will not be a one sided match.