New Zealand flayed Pakistan’s attack on the way to a crushing 119- run win during the second one-day international in Napier on Tuesday.
The win means the Black Caps take the series 2-0 and maintain momentum ahead of this month’s World Cup, while Pakistan look in disarray after two poor displays.
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The New Zealanders ran riot after winning the toss and electing to bat, ending their innings at 369 for five, their highest ever score against Pakistan. Kane Williamson top-scored with 112, Ross Taylor finished 102 not out with a boundary off the last ball and opener Martin Guptill also contributed 76.
In contrast, Pakistan medium pacer Bilawal Bhatti logged the worst bowling figures in the country’s ODI history, leaking 93 runs off his 10 wicketless overs.
The 369 total was the Black Caps’ fifth highest in ODI history, surpassed only by scores against minnows Zimbabwe and Canada.
Pakistan’s batsmen could only manage 250 in reply before they were bowled out in 43.1 overs, although they were chasing the game after a dismal bowling effort.
Only Wahab Riaz in 2013 has conceded as many runs as Bhatti in 10 overs, but he at least took two wickets against South Africa.
Ehsan Adil fared a tad better, taking one wicket but going for 8.5 an over. Mohammad Irfan was the sole bowler who appeared remotely threatening, finishing with 2-52.
With Pakistan’s front-line attack failing, Misbah was forced to call on his part-timers. But Younis Khan, Haris Sohail and Ahmed Shehzad had no answers, taking only one wicket between them at the cost of 93 runs.
McCullum set the tone for the hosts with a typically aggressive cameo of 31 before Guptill and Williamson brought up New Zealand’s 100 off 18.2 overs.
They both cruised to half centuries, with New Zealand on 152 at the half-way mark. Williamson stepped on the gas after Guptill was dismissed for 76, moving from 63 to 100 in the space of eight overs.
The 24-year old finally fell for 112 to Irfan but Ross Taylor then stepped in to club a 70-ball century in his 150th one-day international, smashing Bhatti onto the roof of the stands.
Taylor appeared in danger of remaining stranded in the 90s in the final over, but a six and a four in the final two balls took him to 102.
