Pakistan and NewZealand will compete in a Boxing Day test on 26th December 2020. The test series consists of 2 tests which will be part of the ICC Test Championship.
The teams will play the first test in Mount Maunganui.Â
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Exclusion of Babar Azam
The all format captain of Pakistan and the No.5th ranked batsman in the test format, Babar Azam has been ruled out of the first test in result of a thumb injury but he resumed practice and is expected to play the 2nd test.
NewZealand Squad
Kane Williamson (c), Tom Blundell, Trent Boult, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling (wk), Will Young
New Zealand have named a 13-man squad for their crucial ICC World Test Championship series with Pakistan! Skipper Kane Williamson is back after missing the second Test against West Indies while Mitchell Santner has been retained as the spin option
Pakistan Squad
Mohammad Rizwan (capt), Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Imran Butt, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood, Sohail Khan, Yasir Shah.
Weather and pitch report:
The pitch at this venue is expected to be a surface where the batsmen will be tasked with facing bowlers who will be getting a lot of help from the surface. Apart from a couple of deliveries, the batsmen will find it hard to score runs here.
The weather in Mount Maunganui during the days of the match being played is expected to be mostly sunny with an odd passing shower of rain expected around the second day. The temperature will be around the 22 degree Celsius mark.
