T20 World Cup: Onus on Pakistan spinners and New Zealand batters as Super Eight begins

As Super Eight begins, Pakistan's spinners face pressure against New Zealand's batters on a challenging pitch in Colombo.

After shouldering their team’s leap past the group-stage hurdle, Pakistan spinners will be expected to live up to the reputation through the Super Eight phase too, beginning with their Group 2 match against New Zealand at the R. Premadasa Stadium here on Saturday.

Traditionally a pace powerhouse, Pakistan’s pivoting has not even been subtle. It handed out 18 overs to its spinners against arch-rival India, and even dropped pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi in its last group-stage match against Namibia.

However, the game against India, Pakistan’s only match at this venue so far, also exposed the chinks in its attack.

Southpaw Ishan Kishan exploited the on-side in that game, scoring 23 off just nine balls against Abrar Ahmed and Shadab Khan.

Kiwi middle-order bat Mark Chapman would take a leaf out of Kishan’s book to assert himself.

Against Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips, who have handled spin at strike rates of 170 and 197, respectively, pinning all hopes on its tweakers might come back to haunt Pakistan.