WELLINGTON, New Zealand: Pakistan won the toss and again elected to bowl first in the third Twenty20 international against New Zealand in Dunedin on Wednesday.
A New Zealand win will seal the five-match series for the Black Caps, who comfortably won the first two games by 46 and 21 runs respectively.
Pakistan captain Shaheen Shah Afridi, who won the toss for the first two games and bowled first, said the overcast conditions were in his favour.
“I think we’re ready,” he said of the need to win and keep the series alive.
New Zealand stand-in captain Mitchell Santner said he probably would have bowled first as well but still expected a high-scoring performance.
The Black Caps are without regular captain Kane Williamson, who was already scheduled to be rested for game three and will now miss the remainder of the series because of a hamstring injury.
Tim Seifert comes in for Williamson with Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson also added to bolster the bowling ranks.
New Zealand have never lost in 15 internationals at Dunedin’s University Oval.
Teams
New Zealand: Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Tim Seifert, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner(capt), Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson
Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi(capt), Mohammad Wasim, Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan
—AFP
