Pitch and weather: In the six World Cup games so far played at the SCG, teams batting first have won five of them. The ground that will be utilised for the semi-final is the same one that held the Super 12s opener between Australia and New Zealand, which could lessen the effect of the coin toss. Of the three pitches that have been used so far in Sydney, it was the flattest and most conducive to batting. On Wednesday morning, there is a slight chance of rain, but it should stop by the time the game is played.
Toss: New Zealand will bat first.
Williamson: Used pitch, devoid of grass. Same pitch, but different and it’s important we adjust to the changing conditions. For us, it’s just focussing on this game and the conditions.
Babar: Toss is not in our hands and we will look to put pressure on them. Same team. We have a lot of confidence from the triangular series, but NZ has quality players and we will play according to the situation. We have not played the last two finals, but we’re focussing on this match.
Pakistan team: 1 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 2 Babar Azam (capt), 3 Mohammad Haris, 4 Shan Masood, 5 Iftikhar Ahmed, 6 Mohammad Nawaz, 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Mohammad Wasim, 9 Naseem Shah, 10 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 11 Haris Rauf.
New Zealand team: 1 Finn Allen, 2 Devon Conway (wk), 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Glenn Phillips, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 James Neesham, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Tim Southee, 9 Trent Boult, 10 Ish Sodhi, 11 Lockie Ferguson.
