New Zealand vs. Pakistan, 1st T20I: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

After thumping Sri Lanka recently, New Zealand are coming to the boil nicely ahead of their huge forthcoming series against Australia and the 2016 Twenty20 World Cup.

However, if they fail to focus against Pakistan, who have controversially named Mohammad Amir in their squad, then they could pay the price.

Let's take a look at how the two sides are shaping up ahead of the first clash of their three-game T20 series.

Date: Friday, January 15, 2016

Time: 7 p.m. local (6 a.m. GMT)

Venue: Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand

Live Stream and TV Info: Sky Sports (UK), Sky Sport (New Zealand), TenSports (Pakistan), NowTV (subscription required).

Weather: According to the BBC's weather department, an overcast, but for the most part, dry day is in prospect for this contest.

Overview

Despite Pakistan and New Zealand currently sitting in sixth and seventh place, respectively, if one side can whitewash this series, they will go top of the ICC's T20I rankings.

And the Black Caps are clearly the team that seem most capable of achieving this feat.

The imminent international retirement of Brendon McCullum (he's already departed the T20 XI) has had little effect on his colleagues who won seven out of nine games against Sri Lankan recently, including both T20s.

Phil Walter/Getty Images

Positive signs ahead of the T20 World Cup.

Even better news, Kane Williamson has taken to the captaincy like a duck to water, Grant Elliot and Corey Anderson have returned from injury and, as Colin Munro's recent 14-ball half-century demonstrated, the squad boasts firepower aplenty.

Things aren't too shabby with the ball either with Mitchell McClenaghan and Matt Henry covering impeccably for the injured Tim Southee, alongside the always impressive Trent Boult.

True, the continuing search for a long-term spinner—Todd Astle, last seen on the international scene in 2012, replaces Ish Sodhi for this series—is an issue, and their opponents are sure to target this perceived weakness.

But on the whole, things are rosy in the Kiwi camp, and they should be genuine challengers for the big one in March.

ARIF ALI/Getty Images

Conversely, Pakistan's buildup for this tour has been far from smooth with the controversial recall of Amir, who was banned for five years for spot fixing, has not been universally popular.

In fact, Mohammad Hafeez and current ODI skipper Azhar Ali even boycotted part of a pre-tour training camp in protest at the youngster's presence, with the latter actually offering to resign.

Things seem to have settled down a little since then, but Umar Akmal has kept things interesting by being banned...and then not being banned due to a breach of uniform protocol in Pakistan's domestic league, per ESPNcricinfo.

"

PCB removes the ban on Umar Akmal for playing 1st T20I. He'll be punished later in domestic cricket. https://t.co/o6IUKC1MCl… #NZvPAK

— HBL PSL T20 (@Its_HBLPSL) January 13, 2016"

However, even without Akmal, the absent Yasir Shah, who's currently banned for a substance offence, and rested/overlooked fast bowlers Mohammad Irfan, Sohail Tanvir, Junaid Khan, Pakistan have plenty of ability.

The one-of-a-kind Shahid Afridi will lead the side and, alongside Hafeez and Shoaib Malik, provide an ultra-experienced backbone to the batting and slow bowling units.

While the impressive-looking pace trio of Amir, Wahab Riaz and Umar Gul will be licking their lips at the prospect of bowling on New Zealand's seam-friendly surfaces. 

Pakistan's most obvious weakness, apart from a lack of match practice—they haven't a single warm-up game for this tour—appears to be in the fielding department, and the younger players will have plenty of running to do.

That said, despite conditions being drastically different from the arid UAE, which provided the backdrop to their recent tussles with England, if Afridi's troops hit the ground running, they won't be a pushover.

T20I head-to-head record

New Zealand and Pakistan have contested 11 T20Is in the format's history, with the latter holding a 7-4 advantage so far.

Their last meeting was at Dubai in December 2014, where the Black Caps ran out 17-run winners in a low-scoring affair thanks to a combined economical bowling effort.

T20I form

New Zealand: WWWLWL

Pakistan: LLLWWW

Squads

New Zealand: Kane Williamson (capt), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Grant Elliott, Martin Guptill, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, Luke Ronchi (wk), Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham, Todd Astle.

Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (capt), Aamer Yamin, Ahmed Shehzad, Anwar Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Rizwan, Saad Nasim, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Shoaib Malik, Sohaib Maqsood, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz.

Key Players

MICHAEL BRADLEY/Getty Images

New Zealand

Having scored six half-centuries and two tons in his last 12 innings across all formats, Guptill is enjoying the best run of his international career. And it isn't just the volume of runs that has been impressive. The belligerent opener has been scoring at a ferocious rate, including a staggering 30-ball 93 against Sri Lanka. Pakistan can't afford to let the 29-year-old make a similar start against them.

ARIF ALI/Getty Images

Pakistan

While Amir is grabbing the headlines, Afridi remains his side's key exponent in this format, capable of changing and winning games with either bat or ball. In T20 cricket, the 35-year-old has taken 211 wickets and scored over 2,800 runs at an incredible strike rate of 154.04. No game is over until Boom Boom sings!

Who will win?

Pakistan's lack of warm-up games could be exposed here as they will surely be undercooked against a New Zealand side brimming with confidence. While T20 cricket can be decided by fine margins, expect the Black Caps to get off to a flyer in Auckland.