New Zealand win toss, choose to bat against Pakistan

New Zealand won the toss on Wednesday and chose to bat first against Pakistan in the high-stakes Cricket World Cup game at Edgbaston, Birmingham.

Speaking after the toss, Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed said that he would have chosen to bat first as well, had he won the toss.

New Zealand have the chance to follow Australia into the semifinals of the Cricket World Cup if they beat Pakistan in today's match.

Pakistan are hoping for a repeat of 1992 when they beat New Zealand in the semi-final and went on to win the title. They can move one point behind fourth-place England with a win, and go level with Bangladesh, as the race for the finals spots unexpectedly opens up.

Squads: 
New Zealand: 1 Colin Munro, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 6 Colin de Grandhomme, 7 Jimmy Neesham, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Trent Boult

Pakistan: 1 Imam-ul-Haq, 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Mohammad Hafeez, 5 Haris Sohail, 6 Sarfaraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Shadab Khan, 9 Mohammad Amir, 10 Wahab Riaz, 11 Shaheen Afridi