All-rounder Scott Styris steered New Zealand to a thrilling four-wicket victory with an unbeaten century in the first one-day international against Pakistan at Auckland on Saturday.
Styris performed with both bat and ball to give the hosts a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
Having claimed three wickets during the Pakistan innings, Styris helped New Zealand reach their victory target of 230 in the final over with 10 fours and two sixes during his knock of 101.
Earlier, Pakistan wicketkeeper Moin Khan hit a quickfire 72 off 68 balls to rescue the tourists, who finished on 229 for seven off their 50 overs.
Openers Yasir Hameed (19) and Imran Farhat (24) had put on 47 for the first wicket before Pakistan collapsed to 84 for five in the 27th over.
But Moin and Inzamam-ul-Haq (19) steadied the ship and added 36 before the captain became Styris's third victim.
Abdul Razzaq joined Moin and the duo picked up the pace to add 63 in only 9.5 overs.
Razzaq was eventually run out for 22 but Azhar Mahmood then smashed an unbeaten 26 off 10 balls as he and Moin added 46 off the last 23 deliveries.
The home side, who lost their way between the 37th and 40th overs when they lost three wickets, clinched the win when Bendon McCullum clipped Mohammad Sami to fine leg for two with five balls to spare.
"It was nice to get across the line," Fleming said.
"We were under a lot of pressure but Eden Park is a tough ground to defend and as long as we had Scotty (Styris) there I knew we were in with a chance."
New Zealand had earlier lost their momentum when skipper Stephen Fleming was out for 45 after skying an attempted pull to Sami.
With the score on 102 for three, Styris survived the regular fall of wickets at the other end to carry New Zealand to victory.
Pakistan coach Javed Miandad praised Styris's performance after admitting his side's 229 was not a big enough total to defend in a ground the size of Eden Park.
"I thought we had it in the middle of their innings but Styris batted magnificently. He also got three wickets, so he was a real hero for New Zealand," said Miandad.
Scoreboard
Pakistan:
Yasir Hameed b Oram 19
Imran Farhat b Cairns 24
Saleem Elahi lbw Styris 20
Yousuf Youhana c Styris b Oram 5
Shoaib Malik c McCullum b Styris 4
Inzamam-ul-Haq b Styris 19
Moin Khan not out 72
Abdul Razzaq run out 22
Azhar Mahmood not out 26.
Extras: (lb-8, w-10) 18
Total: (for seven wickets, 50 overs) 229
Fall of wickets: 1-47, 2-55, 3-60, 4-79, 5-84, 6-120, 7-183.
Bowling: Tuffey 10-1-49-0 (w-1), Oram 10-3-28-2 (w-1), Cairns 9-1-37-1, Adams 9-0-63-0 (w-3), Styris 10-3-34-3 (w-5), Vettori 2-0-10-0.
New Zealand:
C Cumming run out 1
S Fleming c Sami b Mahmood 45
H Marshall c Hameed b Shabbir 14
S Styris not out 101
C McMillan c Razzaq b Malik 12
C Cairns lbw Malik 3
J Oram c Moin b Razzaq 3
B McCullum not out 13.
Extras: (lb-16, nb-2, w-20) 38
Total: (for six wickets, 49.1 overs) 230
Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-35, 3-102, 4-141, 5-151, 6-156.
Bowling: Sami 9.1-1-37-0 (w-2), Shabbir 10-1-53-1 (w-10), Mahmood 10-0-35-1 (w-1), Malik 10-1-28-2, Razzaq 10-0-61-1 (nb-2 w-7).
Result: New Zealand win by four wickets and lead the five match series 1-0.
