Pakistan and New Zealand meet today for the second time in a tussle that may not be as hard as the previous one. The Black Caps rallied all the forces to pile up a fighting total of 266 runs. It was a golden day for the Pakistan's batsmen to display the peak of their form to clinch the target for the loss of only 2 wickets. Pakistan thus defeated New Zealand by 8 wickets.

New Zealand trailing behind the two opponents without a point on the table, shall have to put up a strong team, muster all the forces and fight a relentless battle to win the match and come at par with Sri Lanka.

On the other hand Pakistan having sailed into the finals with three straight victories, the match may be of little importance to them. Victory or defeat being of no consequence, it is quite likely that Pakistan stuffs its team with all the chicks to provide them exposure and experience of a tense competition. In that case the match winning trio of Saeed Anwar, Inzimam ul Haq and Shahid Afridi shall have to be given rest, wholly or partly.

The youngsters included in the Pakistan squad having given no performance worth the name so far, such a change will brighten the Black Caps chances of a victory. In the 1st encounter between the two teams, the Black Caps' bowling failed completely to create an impact on the Pakistan batsmen. A repeat of such a dismal bowling performance will not help the Black Caps to gain a victory. Similarly their batsmen will also have to be more resolute and determined to face the Pakistan bowlers.

There is also a second school of thought that ending up a tournament without defeat has its own charm, pride and honor. If the Pakistan team management decides to follow this theme and takes the field with a full strength team, they will be hard to beat.

So let us wait for start of the game to know the composition of playing XIs. It will not only dictate the strategy and planning on both sides but will also influence the course of play and the final result.

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