New Zealand wins toss, bowls in 2nd test vs. Pakistan

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson won the toss and chose to bowl Sunday in the second cricket test against Pakistan.

Williamson said the pitch at Hagley Oval was less green than usual but New Zealand still saw an opportunity for early success if its bowlers put the ball “in the right places.”

New Zealand named seamer Matt Henry to replace the injured Neil Wagner and medium pace allrounder Daryl Mitchell in place of spinning allrounder Mitchell Santner.

Pakistan named left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar to make his test debut in place of leg-spinner Yasir Shah. Mohammad Rizwan will lead Pakistan again in the absence of Babar Azam who has not recovered from a broken thumb.

New Zealand leads the two-match series 1-0 after winning the first test by 101 runs.

Squads

New Zealand: Tom Latham, Tom Blundell, Kane Williamson (captain), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, B.J. Watling, Daryl Mitchell, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Trent Boult.

Pakistan: Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Faheem Ashraf, Zafar Gohar, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi.

Image credits: Twitter / @icc