Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat against New Zealand in the 41st Match of the Super 8 Group 2 stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 at the R Premadasa Stadium here on Saturday, with the start of the contest delayed due to rain.
Light drizzle forced covers onto the field shortly before the scheduled start, pushing back proceedings as ground staff covered the entire playing area amid intermittent showers.
Pakistan skipper Salman Agha said at the toss that his side would bat first, backing a spin-heavy combination to exploit the Colombo surface. Pakistan made one change, bringing in Fakhar Zaman, while retaining a balanced attack featuring two frontline pacers and multiple spin options.
“We are going to bat first. We have one change. Fakhar is playing and Nafay is not playing. We have one pacer, Faheem Ashraf — he is a good all-rounder. So we have two pacers and a lot of spin options. They are a quality side, we know that. We have to play our A game and that is what we look forward to today,” Salman said.
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner confirmed three changes to his XI, including the inclusion of an extra spinner.
“We have three changes. We have gone with an extra spinner Ish Sodhi instead of Kyle Jamieson. Lockie is back for Duffy. Could be a little bit different here compared to the conditions in Chennai, but we have seen a lot of the games throughout the tournament here and we know the challenge they possess. Should be entertaining, they have got some good spinners,” Santner said.
New Zealand Playing XI: Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (c), James Neesham, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson.
Pakistan Playing XI: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha (c), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Usman Khan (wk), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Salman Mirza, Usman Tariq.
With both teams eyeing a crucial win in the Super 8 stage, a rain-hit contest could add further intrigue to an already high-stakes encounter.
