(Cricket news) New Zealand produced an emphatic performance against India to enhance their chance of qualification. Scotland will try producing an upset as they will play without any fear and hope to play for their pride also and will now face an uphill task against New Zealand, Pakistan and India in a span of five days.
New Zealand heading into the match will be very confident as all departments for them are fit and firing. The New Zealand batsmen especially the openers have been amongst the runs and will be looking to score runs against a weak Scotland bowling lineup but there will be mounting pressure on Martin Guptill and Scotland will be aware of that. The New Zealand opener averages below 20 and has a sub 120 strike-rate in his 24 T20Is in Asia. He's gotten out to the pace of Haris Rauf and Jasprit Bumrah in the tournament so far, so expect Scotland's trio of Bradley Wheal, Josh Davey and Safyaan Sharif to be on their mark against Guptill. The New Zealand bowlers have been right on the money with their variations and bowling changes.
Scotland need to have a spirited batting performance as previously they have made scores of 60 against Afghanistan and 109 against Namibia, a change in venue could just be the blank slate the team needs. Mark Watts spell will be super vital for New Zealand right hand batsmans, the left arm spinner has mostly been bowling in the middle overs and is yet to concede at over run-a-ball in this tournament. His economy rates in the five games so far read 4.75, 5.75, 5.75, 5.75 and 5.50 Kyle Coetzer and Calum MacLeod need to lead from the front and with all their experience help inspire the team to a spirited batting performance.
Head to head: New Zealand 1 – 0 Scotland, (It was way back in the 2009 ICC World T20 and New Zealand won the rain-affected seven-over smash at the Oval by seven wickets)
Pitch and weather report: It is expected to be another slow burner as again winning the toss will be crucial, batting tends to become easier in the second innings. The spinners will again have a huge influence on the game, the temperature is going to hover around 40 degrees as there is no chance of rain.
Interesting facts:
- Ish Sodhi is New Zealand's leading wicket taker in T20Is in 2021 with 21 wickets.
- Scotland's batsmen average 8.61 in Super 12s with a SR of 85.16
- Among pacers, Tim Southee (101) is next best to Lasith Malinga (107) in terms of T20I wickets. His 14 wickets are the joint-most in 2021. Among pacers, only Josh Hazlewood (9) has taken more wickets than Southee (8) in the Powerplay this year.
- This is Scotland's first game in Dubai this tournament. They have won four out of the eight T20Is here.
- Scotland have lost the most wickets (13) in the powerplay this tournament.
Probable XI for New Zealand:
1 Daryl Mitchell, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Devon Conway (wk), 5 Glenn Phillips, 6 Jimmy Neesham, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Adam Milne, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Ish Sodhi
Probable XI for Scotland:
1 Kyle Coetzer (capt), 2 George Munsey, 3 Calum MacLeod, 4 Richie Berrington, 5 Matt Cross, 6 Michael Leask, 7 Chris Greaves, 8 Mark Watt, 9 Josh Davey, 10 Safyaan Sharif, 11 Brad Wheal
