Glenn Phillips cracked a maiden century and Mitchell Santner grabbed three wickets to help New Zealand overpower Pakistan by 78 runs in the opening match of a tri-nations series in Lahore on Saturday.
Phillips hit 106 not out from 74 balls, with seven sixes and six boundaries to help the tourists post an impressive 330-6 in 50 overs before Santner's 3-41 helped dismiss Pakistan for 252 in 47.5 overs.
South Africa are the third team in the series, a warm-up event for the Champions Trophy from February 19 to March 9 in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.
Phillips also added the prized wicket of Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman who top-scored with a 69-ball 84 including four sixes and seven boundaries.
Fakhar and Babar Azam, promoted to open the innings, had given Pakistan a solid start of 52 before Michael Bracewell broke through with the wicket of Azam who made just ten.
Santner then exploited the slow Gaddafi Stadium pitch, dismissing Kamran Ghulam (18), skipper Mohammad Rizwan (three) and Khushdil Shah (15) to put Pakistan on the back foot.
Salman Agha (40) and Tayyab Tahir (30) added 53 for the fifth wicket but that wasn't enough in a tough chase.
Pacer Matt Henry took 3-53 and Bracewell 2-41.
Earlier, Phillips built on the good work by Daryl Mitchell (81) and Kane Williamson (58) after New Zealand chose to bat.
Phillips added a quickfire 54 off just 47 balls with Bracewell for the sixth wicket. Bracewell scored 31 from 23 balls, with three sixes.
New Zealand plundered 123 runs in the last 10 overs, including 84 from the final five.
Phillips smashed a boundary and two sixes off pace bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi to reach his hundred off 72 balls, taking 25 in the 50th over.
Shaheen ended up with expensive figures of 3-88 from his 10 overs, although he gave Pakistan an early breakthrough by removing opener Will Young for four with the fourth ball of the match.
Spinner Abrar Ahmed had opener Rachin Ravindra caught and bowled for 25 but Williamson and Mitchell then added 95 off 112 balls to rebuild the innings.
Williamson hit seven boundaries in his 46th half century, his first one-day international since November 2023, before edging Shaheen to wicketkeeper Rizwan.
Mitchell appeared well set for a hundred but miscued a shot off Abrar in the 38th over to be caught after hitting four sixes and two boundaries.
Pakistan was hit hard when pace bowler Haris Rauf walked off in the 37th over after suffering a side strain, having bowled 6.2 overs that included the wicket of Tom Latham for nought.
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner won the toss and opted to bat against Pakistan in the opening match of a three-nation tournament in Lahore on Saturday.
Experienced New Zealand fast bowler Lockie Ferguson was ruled out of the match with a hamstring injury.
South Africa is the third team in the event, seen as a warm-up for the eight-nation Champions Trophy in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates from February 19.
Each team plays two matches before the top two compete in the final in Karachi on February 14.
Teams
Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Tayyab Tahir, Salman Agha, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
New Zealand: Mitchell Santner (captain), Rachin Ravindra, Will Young, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Matt Henry, Ben Sears, Will O'Rourke
Umpires: Faisal Afridi (PAK) and Michael Gough (ENG)
TV Umpire: Richard Illingworth (ENG)
Match referee: David Boon (AUS)
Security arrangements
Police, on the other hand, have made foolproof arrangements to provide security during the match as the spectators will be frisked at three places before their entry into the stadium.
Karachi will host two tri-series matches, including the final on February 14.
With the absence of Saim Ayub, Pakistan will most likely play former skipper Babar Azam as the opener in order to prepare him for the Champions Trophy.
Meanwhile, the Black Caps who are currently keeping a close eye on Lockie Ferguson’s fitness will hope to be well- versed with the conditions before the Champions Trophy.
Pakistan’s squad for the match is: Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Kamran Ghulam, Khushdil Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Rizwan (c), Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Muhammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi.
The Kiwis’ squad for the match is: Mitchell Santner (c), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Ben Sears, Nathan Smith, Kane Williamson, Will Young and Jacob Duffy.
Reporter: Waseem Ahmad/Agencies