T20 WC: Pakistan bat first against New Zealand in Super 8 opener
February 21, 2026 06:51 pm
Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first against New Zealand in their first encounter of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026’s Super Eight phase at R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo on Saturday.
Pakistan and New Zealand have faced each other 49 times in T20Is. Pakistan leads with 24 wins, while New Zealand has 23 victories and 2 matches ended with no result.
In T20 World Cups, the two teams have met 7 times, with Pakistan leading 5-2. Their last T20 World Cup clash was in the 2022 semi-final, where Pakistan won comfortably by seven wickets.
New Zealand’s last win against Pakistan in the tournament was in 2016, winning by 22 runs.
The match is highly anticipated as both sides look to strengthen their chances in the Super Eights stage.
Playing XIs
Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha (c), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Salman Mirza and Usman Tariq.
New Zealand: Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (c), Jimmy Neesham, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi and Lockie Ferguson.
--Agencies
