Wellington: New Zealand ended an 11-match losing streak in emphatic fashion yesterday, crushing Pakistan by nine wickets in their first one-day international at Westpac Stadium.
New Zealand's opening combination of Jesse Ryder (55) and Martin Guptill (40 not out) made a mockery of the troubles Pakistan had with the drop-in pitch as New Zealand raced to their target of 125 for the loss of one wicket in 17.2 overs.
Ryder and Guptill brought up the first 50 runs inside six overs and were then forced to take the scheduled tea break after New Zealand had earlier bowled the visitors out for 124 in 37.3 overs.
Tim Southee took a career-best 5-33, while wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum took five catches in an innings for the fourth time.
"Instead of giving any credit to the pitch we should give credit to the New Zealand bowlers, particularly Tim Southee," Pakistan coach Waqar Younis told reporters.
Good friends
Ryder scored 32 of New Zealand's first 50 runs with three fours and two sixes prior to the break and continued afterwards bringing up his fourth one-day half century off 31 balls before he was caught on the boundary by Asad Shafiq off Sohail Tanvir.
Ross Taylor was 23 not out with Guptill at the end of the game. "Jesse and Martin like to bat together, they're good friends... and they played really well and enjoyed playing on that wicket," New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said.
Pakistan, who had won the toss and opted to bat, never looked comfortable with New Zealand's pace bowlers getting good bounce, shape and movement away. The next match is on Wednesday in Queenstown.
Pakistan
Kamran Akmal c Ryder b Southee 8
M. Hafeez c B. McCullum b Southee 0
Younis Khan c B. McCullum b Bennett 24
Asad Shafiq lbw b Southee 4
Misbah-ul-Haq b Southee 50
Umar Akmal c Taylor b Bennett 0
Shahid Afridi c B.McCullum b Southee 15
Abdul Razzaq c B. McCullum b Oram 6
Abdul Rahman c B. McCullum b Oram 0
Sohail Tanvir c Ryder b Bennett 6
Shoaib Akhtar not out 1
Extras (lb 1, w 9) 10
Total (10 wkts; 37.3 overs) 124
Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Mohammad Hafeez), 2-22 (Kamran Akmal), 3-29 (Asad Shafiq), 4-57 (Younis Khan), 5-57 (Umar Akmal), 6-88 (Shahid Afridi), 7-96 (Abdul Razzaq), 8-96 (Abdur Rehman), 9-106 (Sohail Tanvir), 10-124 (Misbah-ul-Haq)
Bowling: Franklin 4-1-13-0, Southee 9.3-0-33-5 (4w), Oram 10-0-33-2 (4w), Bennett 8-0-26-3 (1w), Vettori 6-0-18-0
New Zealand
M. Guptill not out 40
J. Ryder c Shafiq b Tanvir 55
R. Taylor not out 23
Extras (lb 1, w 6) 7
Total (one wkt; 17.2 overs) 125
Fall of wickets: 1-84 (Ryder)
Bowling: Shoaib Akhtar 4-0-47-0 (1w), Sohail Tanvir 7-0-39-1 (5w), Abdul Razzaq 4-0-21-0, Shahid Afridi 1.2-0-7-0, Abdur Rehman 1-0-10-0.