good start by Shoaib Akhtar

new zealand 81/2

]New Zealand v Pakistan, Group A, World Cup 2011, Pallekele

Oram and How return as New Zealand bat

World Cup 2011

New Zealand v Pakistan, Group A, Pallekele

Shoaib Akhtar

New Zealand made two significant changes to the XI that beat Zimbabwe - one forced, the other not - as Daniel Vettori chose to bat in the first ever one-day international in Pallekele. They left out Jesse Ryder, who was unwell, and brought back Jamie How - at No. 3 and not No. 7 - and also dropped fast bowler Hamish Bennett for Jacob Oram.

The changes lengthen New Zealand's struggling batting line-up, with Tim Southee also capable of contributing useful runs at No. 11, but they are lighter on strike-bowling options because of Bennett's absence.

Pakistan also made two changes to the XI that beat Canada, their least convincing victory of the World Cup. Shoaib Akhtar replaced Wahab Riaz, while the left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman took Saeed Ajmal's spot.

Despite the pre-match talk of the unknown Pallekele pitch having more assistance for the fast bowlers, Vettori didn't hesitate to bat. He said that the pitch was hard, flat, dry and expected to be good for batting.

Pakistan are the only team in the tournament with a 100% win record and are top of Group A, while New Zealand are holding on to a quarterfinal berth in fourth position.

Teams

New Zealand: 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Brendon McCullum (wk), 3 Jamie How, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 James Franklin, 6 Scott Styris, 7 Nathan McCullum, 8 Daniel Vettori, 9 Jacob Oram, 10 Kyle Mills, 11 Tim Southee.

Pakistan: 1 Ahmed Shehzad, 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Kamran Akmal (wk), 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Abdul Razzaq, 8 Shahid Afridi, 9 Shoaib Akhtar, 10 Abdur Rehman, 11 Umar Gul.