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RAWALPINDI, April 23: Shoaib Akhtar returns to his hometown at the top of his bowling form as Pakistan aim to take an unbeatable 2-0 lead over an injury-plagued New Zealand in the second One-day International at Pindi Cricket Stadium Wednesday.

Shoaib, who ripped the heart out of New Zealand batting with career-best six for 16 in Karachi Sunday in Pakistan's 153-run victory, promised to further entertain his home crowd. "Obviously I am bowling well and would certainly like to repeat a similar performance before my home crowd," he said Tuesday.

"I think it's the dream of every player to give his best in front of his local supporters. I am no different. I have nice memories of the venue and public that has backed me during my difficult period. I think it is the right time to give them back something," he said, adding: "Although it doesn't bother me but yes, it is great to return to my city as the world's fastest bowler."

Shoaib, who has certainly left a lot of terror in New Zealand minds, has done excellently against the tourists. His previous best of five for 19 was also against the Black Caps at Auckland last year.

"It gives one added encouragement when you play against a team against whom you have done well. My confidence is high. But the biggest thing in my mind is that Pakistan should win. There is no greater feeling than being part of a winning squad," he said.

New Zealand has problems of their own and the return to form of Shoaib must have left them uneasy. The visitors arrived here without Chris Cairns, Shane Bond, Dion Nash and Daniel Vettori and now they have skipper Stephen Fleming, Scott Styris, Robbie Hart and Chris Nevin down with food poisoning and injuries.

New Zealand manager Ross Dykes said that the decision to include them would not be taken before the start of the match.

"We didn't practice with Stephen and Robbie this morning as they are down with stomach bugs and feeling weak. Scott and Chris were there and looked all right. but the physiotherapist will assess their fitness tomorrow afternoon," Dykes said.

Fleming's absence is a body blow to the tourists whose best batsman Nathan Astle has shown glimpses of brilliance but has yet to deliver the goods.

Dykes admitted that Shoaib was quick and was at the peak of his form. But he stressed that his side lost the initiative in the first match on two occasions. "It's a matter of taking the initiative and holding on to it. We had the initiative on two occasions and we gave it away. So we should concentrate on holding the advantage once we have it," Dykes said. "Every game is different so we start from the scratch and hope the boys will come good," he said.

Pakistan are likely to field an unchanged side. And if that happens, it would be the sixth straight match with the same side, something very unusual in Pakistan cricket. "It's a winning combination so I don't think there will be any changes. Until we seal the series, we will try to restrain from making changes," Pakistan coach Mudassar Nazar said.

If Pakistan can't be more pleased with the winning streak and the consistency of Shoaib Akhtar, Yousuf Youhana and Younis Khan, they would be worried with the repeated failures of Inzamam-ul-Haq. The burly batsman has scored only 254 runs from his last 12 matches with just one half century.

Naturally pressure will once again be on Pakistan vice-captain. But with the amount of cricket he has played, he knows how to come out of a lean patch. "It is just a matter of getting one big score. I am timing the ball nicely but somehow lose the initiative. I have to hang in and runs will automatically come," Inzamam hoped.

The weather in the twin city is excellent as there is thick cloud cover and also it rained Monday evening and Tuesday morning. There was forecast for thunderstorm late Tuesday but MET office says it will be a fine on the match day.

Teams:

PAKISTAN (likely): Shahid Afridi, Imran Nazir, Yousuf Youhana, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Abdul Razzaq, Rashid Latif, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis (captain), Saqlain Mushtaq, Shoaib Akhtar. Reserves: Shoaib Malik, Faisal Iqbal, Mohammad Sami, Yasir Arafat, Misbah-ul-Haq.

NEW ZEALAND (from): Nathan Astle, Matthew Horne, Lou Vincent, Craig McMillan, Stephen Fleming (captain), Chris Harris, Andre Adams, Ian Butler, Jacob Oram, Robbie Hart, Brooke Walker, Daryl Tuffey, Scott Styris, James Franklin.

UMPIRES: Steve Bucknor (West Indies) and Aleem Dar (Pakistan).

TV UMPIRE: Asad Rauf.

RESERVE UMPIRE: Zafar Iqbal Pasha.

Match referee: Mike Procter (South Africa).

© Dawn