World Cup 2023: Pakistan win toss, opt to bat first against New Zealand in warm-up match

HYDERABAD: Pakistan won the toss Friday and opted to bat first against New Zealand in the first warm-up match of the ICC World Cup 2023 in Hyderabad, India.

After winning the toss, Babar Azam said We are batting first. We will try to asssess the conditions and put runs on the board. We are excited to play the World Cup. Many boys are playing here for the first time. We will try to utilize our 15 players.

Like in past ICC Cricket World Cup tournaments, the warm-up matches will consist of 50 overs per side.

Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi thrilled by heartwarming India welcome

However, these matches won’t have ODI status because teams will have the flexibility to include all 15 members of their squad in the playing XI.

Earlier it was raining in Hyderabad and the forecast shows some rain can be expected during the match time as well.

Squads

New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitch Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will Young.

Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, M Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha.