Toss Pakistan chose to bat v New Zealand
Pakistan elected to bat first in Dubai after winning the toss. On a cool morning, Sarfraz Ahmed said the pitch was ripe for setting up the game with a handy first innings total, insisting the team had put the loss in Abu Dhabi behind them. Almost as proof of that, he announced Pakistan were going in the with same team as the one that fell agonizingly short in the first Test.
Kane Williamson admitted his side would have done the same, but hoped that the cooler conditions would help them take advantage of the new ball. The visitors, too, were unchanged. A win here would see them win just their second ever test series against Pakistan away from home, and their first in the UAE.
Pakistan: 1 Imam-ul-Haq, 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Azhar Ali, 5 Asad Shafiq, 6 Haris Sohail, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 8 Yasir Shah, 9 Bilal Asif, 10 Hasan Ali, 11 Mohammad Abbas
New Zealand: 1 Jeet Raval 2 Tom Latham 3 Kane Williamson (capt) 4 Ross Taylor 5 BJ Watling (wk) 6 Henry Nicholls 7 Colin de Grandhomme 8 Ish Sodhi 9 Trent Boult 10 Ajaz Patel 11 Neil Wagner