New Delhi: The T20 World Cup 2026 Super Eight stage starts on Saturday with the Pakistan vs New Zealand encounter at the R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. Pakistan advanced to the Super 8s with three wins and one loss, finishing second in Group A while New Zealand notched up as many wins and also suffered a single loss finishing second in Group D.
The clash will be about Pakistan spinners and the Kiwi batters as both would try to gain an upper hand initially with their skill sets and abilities. However, there is a bad news with regards to the high-octane clash as weather is likely to play a spoilsport with rain threat looming large in Colombo on Saturday, February 21.
Weather forecast unfavourable
According to AccuWeather.com, there is a cloud cover of almost 80 to 100 per cent in the city with the probability of precipitation at 75 per cent during the day. At night, the precipitation goes up to 87 per cent with additional chances of thunderstorms. The match will begin at 7 PM IST with the toss taking place at 6.30 PM IST.
What happens if rain washes out play
If the match between Pakistan and New Zealand gets washed out due to rain, it will dent their T20 World Cup semifinal chances. Since there is no reserve day in place, the teams will end up sharing points with both Men in Green and Kiwis getting one point each.
Also, an additional time of 90 minutes will be available on the matchday to try and reach a result and if time and conditions permit, a winner can be decided among the two teams through a five-overs contest.
PAK vs NZ head-to-head
In the shortest format, Pakistan and New Zealand have met on 49 occasions so far with Pakistan holding an upper edge. The Men in Green have won 24 matches while Kiwis have emerged as winners 23 times. Two of the games between both teams have ended with no result.