Pakistan, however, will go into the game as marginal favourites. The reason behind this could be the absence of Shane Bond who suffered from an abdominal strain in the first game and has been ruled out of the series. Coral offers 15/8 for Pakistan to make it 1-1, as compared to 11/5 (Boylesports) for New Zealand to finish the series off at Wellington. The Basin Reserve usually does not see a lot of drawn games and even the previous match against India ended in a stalemate thanks to the inclement weather.
Pakistan suffered in the first test match due to the inability of their top three batsmen to adjust to the foreign conditions. With Misbah-ul-Haq (6/1 at Bet365 to top the Pakistani batting) having made the flight to New Zealand, there is a reasonable chance that one of the three – Imran Farhat (5/1 at Boylesports to be the best Pakistani batsman), Khurram Manzoor (6/1 at Paddy Power to top the Pakistani batting) or Fawad Alam (11/2 at 888Sport to be the top-scorer for Pakistan) – could be shown the door.
However, more importantly, the senior pair of captain Mohammad Yousuf (7/2 at 888Sport to be the best Pakistani batsman) and Shoaib Malik (6/1 at 888Sport to top the Pakistani innings) need to come good if the side has to harbour hopes of equalling the series.
The Kiwis also had their own top-order woes in the previous game. There were first over ducks in both the innings of the Dunedin match for New Zealand, and the captain will need a lot more from them in the second game. Tim McIntosh (5/1 at 888Sport to top the batting for his team) has yet to establish himself as a useful top-order batsman despite a century in test matches, whereas Daniel Flynn (6/1 at Bet365 to be the best Kiwi batsman) averages only 30 with the bat. Time and again, it is the New Zealand lower-order that has come to the rescue of the side with the bat, and captain Daniel Vettori must be afforded the credit for the resurrection. Rather surprisingly, Bet Fred offers 10/1 for him to top score the Kiwi innings.
To me, Brendon McCullum (9/1 at 888Sport to top the batting for his side) looked to be getting into his own in the ODI series that had preceded the tests, and had topped it with a half century in the Dunedin game. He does look good to get a big score, especially given that he bats around the time when the ball has become old and hence lost most of its swing.
Tips:
Favourites: Pakistan (15/8 at Coral)
Top Pakistani batsman: Mohammad Yousuf (7/2 at 888Sport)
Top New Zealand batsman: Brendon McCullum (9/1 at 888Sport)