Slapped!

Short and wide from Shaheen Shah Afridi and Daryl Mitchell flat bats the ball between cover and mid-off for his first boundary.

Well placed that.

Henry Moeran
BBC Test Match Special

It's really interesting to see the energy of this Pakistan side. They are so buoyant from that win against India and they have brought it into their fielding.

You can feel the pressure building on New Zealand already.

Daryl Mitchell drives straight to mid-off but the Kiwis look to steal a single and Mitchell may have been in trouble at the non-striker's end with a direct hit.

Henry Moeran
BBC Test Match Special

That was a little shorter and wider and Guptill played that nicely.

Plenty of energy in the field from Pakistan at the moment. That has been a criticism of them over the years but this side under Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan are good in the field.

Imad Wasim looks like bowling a tight over until Martin Guptill gives himself some room and forces the final ball through a packed off-side field for the first boundary.

Imad Wasim will get us going from the other end with his left-arm darts.

Alex Hartley
England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

The celebrappeal from Shaheen there!

A maiden to start from Shaheen Shah Afridi. Brilliant.

There was little movement, but he nailed a yorker and his line and length were spot on throughout. There's an appeal for caught behind off the final ball but Michael Gough says no.

He was up at 90.7mph at one stage too. A serious talent.

Alex Hartley
England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

Accidental yorker to start the innings!

Classic bit of in-swing from Shaheen Shah Afridi but Martin Guptill is equal to it to drive it back down the pitch.

Henry Moeran
BBC Test Match Special

I really don't think there's a more exciting fast bowler in the world right now than Shaheen Shah Afridi.

I can confirm it is noisy in Sharjah. It's fantastic to see because some games have been very empty so far.

Shaheen Shah Afridi, who I quite frankly love, will take the new ball.

Henry Moeran
BBC Test Match Special

This is like a home game for Pakistan. There is a lot of support for them here.

Scoring was difficult at Sharjah, today's venue, during the IPL, but Afghanistan made 190 yesterday so who knows what we're going to get today.

We're playing on a fresh pitch and it looks very hard. Martin Guptill has had to scrape extremely hard to take his mark.

The national anthems are done and the players are making their way out to the middle.

This should be a great game.

Alex Hartley
England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

It's hard, when you win a game like that against India, to not get carried away with the emotion. Pakistan will regroup, remind themselves that yes, they put in a perfect performance but there is still a long way to go.

Looking for something to occupy a couple of minutes before the first ball?

Look no further. Pop off and pick your Men's T20 World Cup dream team.

Some Pakistan and New Zealand players must feature, surely?

Image source, Getty Images

New Zealand have been forced into a change in their 15-man squad today with pace bowler Lockie Ferguson having to withdraw with a calf tear.

They've up Adam Milne. Hardly a bad replacement considering Milne was the joint highest wicket-taker in the men's Hundred this summer. He bowls with serious pace too.

Milne wasn't available for selection today because his inclusion in the squad is still subject to approval from the ICC Technical Committee.

There has already been some great content from this World Cup, but this from the ICC is literally SENSATIONAL.

Steve Smith eat your heart out. Mohammad Rizwan's shadow batting and then his ability to take it into the game is second to none.

Just in case a World Cup game ever needs a little bit of extra spice...