Cricket: Pakistan to play Auckland in warmup

Pakistan will play a warmup Twenty20 match against Auckland on December 23 to begin their cricket tour of New Zealand this summer.

The tourists wanted a warmup match and the game at Colin Maiden Park suited Auckland, who face a gap in their domestic Twenty20 campaign.

Auckland last played Pakistan in a drawn three-day game at Eden Park in December 2003.

Pakistan's international programme begins at Eden Park on January 26 with the first of three Twenty20 matches against New Zealand.

- NZPA