Pakistan V New Zealand, 1st T20I: Date, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

Pakistan and New Zealand commence a two-game Twenty20 international series in Dubai, having drawn the Test series 1-1.

With both sides bringing in several different faces, it promises to be an intriguing matchup in the United Arab Emirates.

Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium

Date: Thursday, December 4

Start time: 4 p.m. GMT, 8 p.m. local time

Live on: Ten Sports (Middle East/Asia), Sky Sport (New Zealand)

Weather: According to The Weather Channel, Dubai will be sunny all day with temperatures peaking at 27 degrees Celsius but dipping to about 21 degrees by the start of the game.

Overview

The Black Caps come into this T20I series on the back of a huge victory in the third and final Test by an innings and 80 runs.

Their attention now shifts to the shorter form, and the visitors will be without usual captain Brendon McCullum, who will instead go home.

He will be replaced in the captaincy by Kane Williamson, who will lead a team that also lacks fast bowlers Tim Southee and Trent Boult.

Those selection decisions came to reduce those players' workloads, with the likes of Anton Devcich and Adam Milne earning call-ups to the squad in their places.

Meanwhile, Pakistan have called up wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed to the T20I squad after a strong run in the Tests, while Wahab Riaz and Umar Gul return from injuries.

The team will be led once again by Shahid Afridi and will be hopeful of recovering from their heavy defeat in the last Test of the series.

Team News

Pakistan (from): Shahid Afridi, Ahmed Shehzad, Anwar Ali, Mohammad Hafeez, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Irfan, Awais Zia, Raza Hasan, Saad Nasim, Sarfraz Ahmed, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz

New Zealand (from): Kane Williamson (capt), Corey Anderson, Dean Brownlie, Anton Devcich, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Adam Milne, James Neesham, Luke Ronchi, Ross Taylor, Daniel Vettori.

Key Players

Shahid Afridi

With the burden of leadership on his shoulders once again, Afridi will be crucial for Pakistan. He is an explosive batsman and an effective bowler, so he will have plenty on his plate in this game.

Kane Williamson

With McCullum skipping this series, New Zealand’s captaincy falls to Williamson for these games. The batsman and useful off-spinner is clearly viewed as a leader of the future, and it will be interesting to see how he balances all his responsibilities.