Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first against New Zealand in their first encounter of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026’s Super Eight phase at R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo on Saturday.
Squads
Pakistan: Salman Ali Agha (c), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Nafay, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan and Usman Tariq.
New Zealand: Mitchell Santner (c), Finn Allen, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi and Cole McConchie.
Head-to-head
Pakistan and New Zealand have come face-to-face 49 times in T20Is, with the Green Shirts dominating the head-to-head record with 24 victories, while New Zealand have 23.
In T20 World Cups, however, the two sides have clashed seven times, with Pakistan leading the head-to-head 5-2.
Their last meeting in the tournament came in the semi-final of the 2022 edition, which the Green Shirts won comfortably by seven wickets.
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s last victory over Pakistan dates back to the 2016 edition, where they prevailed by 22 runs.
Matches: 49
Pakistan: 24
New Zealand: 23
No Result: 2
Form Guide
Pakistan and New Zealand enter the fixture with similar momentum in their favour as they both finished second in their respective groups, winning three of their four matches.
Pakistan: W, L, W, W, W (most recent first)
New Zealand: W, L, W, W, L
