ABU DHABI: Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed has said that the green shirts can “finally” break New Zealand jinx when the two sides take on each other in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
Pakistan, earlier, whitewashed New Zealand 3-0 in the T20 series on Sunday, their second after crushing Australia also in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
After losing 11 consecutive games against the same side in ODI format, Sarfraz finally wants to break that spell.
Sarfraz on Tuesday said that “it’s important to break that losing streak and we need to bring improvement in our performance in one-day internationals.”
Between 2014 and 2018, Pakistan lost a total of 11 ODIs against Kiwis, all of which were played in New Zealand.
“If you look at our losses most of them were in New Zealand where conditions were different and we lost due to top order failure where we need to improve,” Sarfraz further said.
Pakistan also failed to qualify for the final of the Asia Cup held in UAE two months ago, losing both their matches against arch-rival India and Bangladesh.
Bangladesh lost the final match to the defending side India.
Sarfraz feels that a tough opponent in home conditions will help the green side build up for the 2019 World Cup going to be held in England.
“New Zealand is a good team of this format but we have a momentum of the Twenty20 series so we must win this series and that will help towards building towards the World Cup,” said Sarfraz.
Following two matches will be played in Abu Dhabi and Dubai on Friday and Sunday respectively.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said it will be a new series. “It’s a new series and a fresh start,” he said. “I guess it’s a nice statistic to have but at the end of the day, come tomorrow, it’s a new series.”
Williamson praised Pakistan as a limited over side.
“They are always a strong side and no matter the format, they have a lot of depth. We simply know they have been here for some time and they know these conditions and they have had lots of success,” Williamson said.
