Tri-series final sees Pakistan bat with Faheem and New Zealand featuring Duffy and Smith

Pakistan opt to bat first against New Zealand

Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat in the tri-series final in Karachi, five days before the two teams meet again in the Champions Trophy opener at the same venue.

The hosts brought back seam-bowling allrounder Faheem Ashraf in place of fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain. This is Ashraf's first international since the Perth Test in December 2023. His recent white-ball form is encouraging: he was the second-highest wicket-taker in the recently concluded Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) with 20 strikes at an economy rate of 7.12 to go with some cameos with the bat.

As for New Zealand, they made two changes, with seamer Jacob Duffy and allrounder Nathan Smith replacing the injured Ben Sears and Matt Henry. Sears has also been sidelined from the upcoming Champions Trophy, with Duffy taking his place for the global tournament as well.

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Henry was rested as a precautionary measure due to a minor knee niggle.

New Zealand's pace spearhead Lockie Ferguson has resumed bowling after hurting his hamstring while playing in the ILT20 in the UAE but wasn't ready to play in the tri-series final. On the eve of the final, head coach Gary Stead was upbeat about Ferguson's progress, saying "he was tracking well."

New Zealand will also be without Rachin Ravindra who had suffered a blow to the forehead in the tri-series opener. Ravindra had experienced headaches after the injury, but although it has subsided since, according to Stead, New Zealand don't intend to rush him back into action.

Pakistan: 1 Babar Azam, 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Saud Shakeel, 4 Mohammad Rizwan (capt & wk), 5 Salman Agha, 6 Tayyab Tahir, 7 Faheem Ashraf, 8 Khushdil Shah, 9 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 10 Naseem Shah, 11 Abrar Ahmed

New Zealand: 1 Devon Conway, 2 Will Young, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Michael Bracewell, 8 Mitch Santner (capt), 9 Jacob Duffy, 10 Nathan Smith, 11 Will O'Rourke