Naseem Shah to Rhys Mariu, no run, touch fuller on off-stump, this one shapes back in just a touch, watchfully blocked
0.2
Naseem Shah to Rhys Mariu, no run
0.1
Naseem Shah to Rhys Mariu, no run, good length delivery shaping away just outside off, watchfully left
Rhys Mariu and Nick Kelly are at the crease. Rhys Mariu is on strike. Naseem Shah will open the attack
Almost time for live action then. Nearly a 2-hour delay but here we are. The players and umpires are all out there
Pitch report: "Sun is out, blue skies. The problem was with the pitch next to the one being used today, there was some sweating underneath the covers. Breeze coming across. It has browned off and it has been rolled again while they were waiting. Doesn't look particularly hard, don't think it will have a huge amount of pace. Will be interesting to see how it plays in the second innings. Might quicken up or become crusty. There is a softness underneath the top layer. This could actually turn. Could be another tough day for the batters, the bowlers will enjoy this surface" say Craig McMillan and Mark Richardson.
We've made a changes to both our expert XI and alternate XI on Fantasy Handbook. Do check it out before locking in your fantasy team.
Teams:
New Zealand (Playing XI): Rhys Mariu, Nick Kelly, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Tim Seifert, Michael Bracewell(c), Muhammad Abbas, Mitchell Hay(w), Jacob Duffy, Ben Sears, William ORourke
Pakistan (Playing XI): Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan(w/c), Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Sufiyan Muqeem, Akif Javed
Michael Bracewell: Will be interesting to see how it plays out. We've played some really good cricket, fought when we've behind and played well. Hopefully we don't get behind in this game. When you bring some young players in, you hope they step up to international cricket quickly and we've seen them do that. It's a pretty inexeperienced squad but they've all been playing some good cricket. Pakistan have been playing some really good cricket but they've lost out on some key moments. We're looking to close out the series on a high.
Pakistan have won the toss and have opted to field
Mohammad Rizwan: We want to bowl first.
Pakistan have won the toss and have opted to field
It is going to be a 42 over contest now. Two bowlers can bowl a maximum
11:56 Local Time, 22:56 GMT, 04:26 IST: Right, we've got some positive news this time around.
11:09 Local Time, 22:09 GMT, 03:39 IST: Unfortunately, the wait continues. The umpires aren't happy with what they've seen and they will have another inspection at 11:45am local. That's in 35 minutes from now.
10:46 Local Time, 21:46 GMT, 03:16 IST: There will be an inspection at 11am local, that's about 15 minutes away from now.
10:32 Local Time, 21:32 GMT, 03:02 IST: Bright sunshine at Mount Maunganui but we're hearing that because it rained plenty in the last 24 hours, parts of the outfield are wet so we are going to have a bit of a delay.