Watch New Zealand Vs. Pakistan Cricket 1st Test Live Stream: Start Time, Team News, How To Watch Online
Fans looking to watch a live stream of the first Test cricket match as Pakistan tries to keep a 12-series New Zealand unbeaten Test streak alive can find full info below on how to watch online in Pakistan, New Zealand and the United States as the iconic Men In Green Captain Misbah-ul-Haq leads his country’s team in a Test match for the 50th time.
But New Zealand Captain Kane Williamson will also be looking at a milestone, as he continues to try to match the legacy of retired captain Brendon McCullum. Williamson — at 26 years old 16 years younger than his opposite number, the crafty 42-year-old veteran Misbah. Coming off of a three-Test away whitewash at the hands of India, Williamson will lead the Black Caps in his first home Test as captain.
Day One of the Test match will be played at Hagley Oval in Christchurch just three days after a major, magnitude-7.5 earthquake rocked the city of 375,000 in the early hours of Monday morning. Hagley Oval itself has hosted Test matches only since a previous stadium in Christchurch was destroyed by an earthquake in 2011.
Pakistan cricket test in Christchurch still on after New Zealand quake https://t.co/2l9BdmdTW3 (Reuters photo of damaged road near Blenheim) pic.twitter.com/Kho3hqvaIw
— Reuters Afghanistan & Pakistan (@ReutersPakistan) November 14, 2016
Play is scheduled to get underway at Hagley Oval in Christchurch at 10:30 a.m. New Zealand Daylight Time on Thursday, November 17, which will be 2:30 a.m. on Thursday in Pakistan. But cricket fans in the United States can watch the match begin at a more convenient hour — 4:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time of the previous day, Wednesday, November 16, 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time.
How to Watch a Live Stream in Pakistan
PTV Sports, a network operated by the government-run Pakistan Television Corporation, will air the first New Zealand Vs. Pakistan Test cricket match of the two-match series live on Pakistan television. The PTV Sports Live online service will make a free live stream of the Test match available as well — but only for viewers inside of Pakistan. The PTV stream can be accessed by fans with internet IP addresses in that country, with no login information required, by clicking on this link — or this link via YouTube. Again, note that the PTV Sports YouTube live stream will not be accessible to viewers accessing the internet outside of Pakistan.
Watch a Live Stream of the Match in New Zealand
Sky Sports in New Zealand carries the New Zealand Vs. Pakistan test series. Subscribers can access a live stream on the Sky Go NZ service at this link.
Live Stream the Test Match For Free in the United States
There are two options to stream the New Zealand Vs. Pakistan Test match in the United States. In the first, free option, the first Test will live stream via ESPN3, the online-only channel in the ESPN network, which will carry both Test cricket matches live in the United States at this link. The ESPN3 streaming channel is free to subscribers of most major internet service providers and many minor ISPs, as well. For a full list, check this link.
To watch New Zealand vs. Pakistan live stream from Christchurch on mobile devices, download the WatchESPN app. ESPN3 bis also available via the WatchESPN channel on most set-top devices, including the Roku, AppleTV and Amazon Fire TV, for fans who want to view the cricket match on their regular television sets.
For the second option fans in the U.S. will need to sign up for a week-long free trial subscription to the Sling TV international sports package, which may be accessed at this link. Credit card info will be required, and the subscription price for the package is $10 per month — but canceling before the initial weeklong trial is up puts a halt to any charges, allowing fans to watch the third Pakistan vs. West Indies Test for free, legally.
The Sling TV lineup of several international sports channels includes Willow TV, a network which specializes in cricket broadcasts. Willow will carry the entire New Zealand vs. Pakistan First Test from Christchurch.
Once fans have signed up for the Sling TV package free trial, the next step is to download Sling software (instructions on the Sling TV site at the link above) for desktop computers — as well as for a variety of mobile devices.
Sling TV is available for the Apple iOS, the Android OS, as well as Amazon Fire OS. The online TV service also offers a channel on several set-top boxes, including Roku, 4th Generation Apple TV, Google Chromecast, and others. For a complete list of Sling-compatible devices and operating systems, click on this link.
Pakistan Have Dominated Play in New Zealand For Two Decades
Pakistan have played 12 Test series in New Zealand since 1985 without losing one of them. In fact, the visitors have won seven series and drawn five since in the past 21 years of play on New Zealand grounds. Because the current series is only two matches, a victory by Pakistan in first Test keeps their unbeaten streak alive.
Overall, the two countries have squared off in 29 Test matches in New Zealand, with Pakistan again dominating by securing victories in 10 against just five defeats with four draws.
Watch a preview of the first Test match from Pakistan’s Dunya News network in the video below.
Probable Teams For the First Test
Here are the expected teams for the Pakistan vs. New Zealand first Test cricket match on Thursday — Wednesday U.S. time.
New Zealand: 1. Jeet Raval, 2 Tom Latham, 3 Kane Williamson (captain), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Henry Nicholls, 6 James Neesham, 7 BJ Watling (wicketkeeper), 8 Todd Astle, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Neil Wagner, 11 Trent Boult
Pakistan: 1 Sami Aslam, 2 Azhar Ali, 3 Asad Shafiq, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), 6 Babar Azam/Mohammad Rizwan, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), 8 Wahab Riaz, 9 Yasir Shah, 10 Mohammad Amir, 11 Sohail Khan
Rain is in the forecast for Thursday, so Day One of the first Test could see the action curtailed at least partially.
[Featured Image By Francois Nel/Getty Images]
