PALLEKELE: New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has won the toss and decided to bat first against Pakistan in their crucial match in the World Cup Group A match here at the Pallekele International Stadium on Tuesday.Pakistan have made two changes in the team bringing back fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar and left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman, replacing Wahab Riaz and Saeed Ajmal.New Zealand brought in Jamie How and Jacob Oram in place of unwell Jesse Ryder and Hamish Bennett in two changes from the side which beat Zimbabwe by seven wickets in their last match. The Pakistanis have won all their three World Cup games and will be looking to further consolidate their pole position in Pool A by taming the Black Caps, whom they beat 3-2 in a six-match One-day International series in New Zealand last month.New Zealand are taking the field after what was a highly clinical 10-wicket triumph over Zimbabwe that followed a seven-wicket defeat against defending champions Australia.The newly-built Pallekele stadium becomes the 178th one-day international venue. Its pitch has been under focus and could play a major role in the outcome of today’s match. It seems to be hard and is likely to provide the bowlers with more bounce than many of the other World Cup wickets.Teams:Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (captain), Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Ahmed ShahzadNew Zealand: Daniel Vettori (captain), Brendon McCullum (wk), Martin Guptill, Jamie How, Ross Taylor, James Franklin, Scott Styris, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Tim Southee, Jacob Oram.
