Ryder's blazing ton sets up consolation win

Jesse Ryder overcame his recent running woes and twitter travails to rattle an 82-ball hundred, and set up a consolation win, as Pakistan went a touch overboard with dead-rubber experimentation. Ryder's belligerence set up a solid base for New Zealand, before Pakistan's questionable choice of slog-over bowlers allowed Nathan McCullum and Scott Styris plunder 72 off the last five. It left Pakistan chasing 312, a target that proved too steep despite a couple of brief flutters.

Ryder had been chastised earlier in the week for expressing his anger through a tweet following his run-out in a domestic game, but today he focused his fury on the opposition. Pakistan's fast-bowling machinery has worked in perfect synchrony through the series, with the exception of Sohail Tanvir, and the trend continued today.

Tanvir's first four overs yielded 25, in addition to accounting for Brendon McCullum, but Ryder spanked him out of the attack with three bombastic sixes in his fifth. Tanvir over-pitched, Ryder went down on a knee to jab him beyond square leg; he dropped short and Ryder pulled over wide long-on. Tanvir then landed a slower ball on a length, and it was smoked down the ground. The template had been set for the innings: every time New Zealand needed release, they ran into Tanvir's inviting lengths and friendly pace, which they duly plundered for 78 runs in eight overs of mayhem.

The rest of the cast fared only marginally better. Mohammad Hafeez was driven inside out for a four and a six in the bowling Powerplay. Ryder raced past fifty by dragging Umar Gul to midwicket, and then cracked him square and hooked him beyond fine-leg. Martin Guptill held his own at the other end, focussing on feeding Ryder with the strike in a stand worth 123.

With the field restrictions lifted, Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq reined New Zealand in. From 108 for 1 in the 16th over, New Zealand could add only 33 in 9.3 overs before Guptill holed out. Razzaq promptly threw another punch, getting Ross Taylor to nick a subtle legcutter behind.

A niggle forced Ryder to ask for a runner, but he ensured Brendon did not have much running to do, heaving Razzaq over fine leg, and swiping Shoaib Akhtar in the same direction. He brought up his ton with a glance in the 33rd over. However, with his mobility clearly hampered by the injury, he targeted the boundary exclusively, and was caught in the deep.

Wary of their longish tail, New Zealand chose to conserve resources for the late surge. Tanvir's return in the 43rd over signalled the end of the ceasefire, as Nathan tickled him to fine leg, before dumping Hafeez over long-on. Styris gorged as well, threading Tanvir through the covers as New Zealand warmed up for a tumultuous finish.

Gul was looted for a six and a four in the 46th over - the first of the final Powerplay - and Nathan played the field smartly to carve boundaries over the infield off Afridi in the 47th. After fluffing a straightforward run-out chance earlier, and conceding 14 runs in his over, Afridi pressed Tanvir and Hafeez into operation. The result - Styris and Nathan plundered nine fours and three sixes and breezed to half-centuries as the innings ended in a blaze of big hits.

Pakistan's chase began with the same lack of intensity that characterised their bowling. Ahmed Shehzad survived after edging a Kyle Mills outswinger in the first over of the innings, but combusted in his next over, top-edging an ambitious pull. Hafeez was beginning to look ominous when he clipped Hamish Bennett straight to deep square-leg. Younis Khan struggled against the impressive Bennett, who got a delivery to thud into his box, cracking his protector and leaving him gasping. Younis eventually edged Bennett behind, Brendon taking a diving catch to his right.

Kamran Akmal chose to knuckle down against seam and wait for the weaker bowlers. It was a good plan, since New Zealand were playing Luke Woodcock and Nathan on a pitch that didn't aid spin. Having moved to 26 off 39 balls by the 18th over, Kamran sped to his half-century with aggressive hits against the spinners.

The game changed when Asad Shafiq exited to a needless mix-up, after a stand of 74. Kamran kept attacking, launching Styris for his third six, but James Franklin removed him and Umar Akmal in an energetic spell as the chase sputtered. Afridi displayed rare restraint, while Tanvir slugged a few blows to keep Pakistan interested. They added 58 for the eight wicket and, with a batting Powerplay to come, New Zealand were becoming anxious for a wicket.

It came in freak fashion, as Tim Southee ran down the track on his follow-through to catch Tanvir short of the crease, with his bat getting stuck in the turf before he could slide it in. It was the sort of moment that had eluded New Zealand through the series, and when it came it was greeted with relief.

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Blazing Shehzad seals series triumph

Pakistan's World Cup preparations only got better as their youngest batsman scored a maiden ODI century to set up a series win - their first in a bilateral rubber since November 2008 - over New Zealand, whose fortunes continued to slide at home after a miserable time in the subcontinent.

Ahmed Shehzad batted with utmost confidence during his calculated assault, overcoming a cautious start in overcast conditions by launching a counter-attack that snatched the initiative New Zealand had worked hard to gain at the beginning of the game. He was backed up by a determined performance from Pakistan's bowlers, who stepped up in areas where New Zealand had erred, and completed the job quite comfortably in the end.

A miserly first spell by Kyle Mills appeared to have justified Ross Taylor's decision to bowl, as it cramped the usually fluent openers through nagging lines outside off stump and crafty variations in pace. He conceded just two runs in his first four overs, and grabbed the wicket of Mohammad Hafeez.

Shehzad, though, was intent on pulling things back. He had warmed up with a crisp straight drive off Hamish Bennett but opened his shoulders to release the pressure created by the early wicket. Mills' tight lines were countered with a mow past mid-off and an agricultural slog over midwicket, catching the bowler off guard and marking a turn in the tide. Shehzad had won the psychological battle when Mills strayed onto the pads the next over, to be glanced to the fine-leg boundary.

A feature of Shehzad's knock was his domination of Bennett, which offset any pressure New Zealand were able to inflict with the fall of a wicket. Bennett overpitched too often, or dropped too short, and was picked off consistently for boundaries. He squandered some hard work by conceding fours off the last balls of his first two overs and was struck for consecutive boundaries by an initially rusty Kamran Akmal before Shehzad singled him out for treatment. He was launched for a straight six and welcomed in his second spell with a violent pull over the midwicket boundary followed by a clean strike over long-on.

While Shehzad took timely risks and had the power and ability to back them up, he was ruthless against the opportunities doled out by the bowlers when Pakistan had been forced to shift gears in the middle overs. The run-out of Kamran resulted in four boundary-less overs before Nathan McCullum, otherwise quite tidy, gifted a short and wide delivery that Shehzad slashed through point. Scott Styris met a similar fate while James Franklin was a victim of Shehzad's subtleties as he was twice scooped over fine leg.

The constant throughout Shehzad's innings, only his seventh in this format, was his assuredness and determination to keep the hosts worried at one end. When he fell, miscuing Styris to deep square leg, with plenty of ammunition left in the batting, New Zealand were staring at an intimidating target. The bowlers, however, hit back to restrict Pakistan in the death overs. Only once had a team lost chasing at Seddon Park since 2002 but with New Zealand's recent ODI record in a shambles, Pakistan needn't have worried about past results at the venue.

The start to the chase could not have been worse for the hosts as Jesse Ryder backed up too far and was run out without facing a ball. Unlike New Zealand's bowlers who had provided ample scoring opportunities to ease the pressure on Pakistan after each dismissal, Pakistan's fast bowlers hardly ever overpitched, bowled consistently in the channel outside off and dried up the runs.

Martin Guptill faced the pressure with a combination of bravado and opportunism. He dealt harshly with deliveries bowled wide or pitched up on middle - there weren't too many of them - and improvised to clear the infield. Guptill ensured a steady flow of singles, ran well between the wickets as the field spread out and continued to be ruthless when freebies came his way. But having survived a close lbw shout early in his innings, Guptill failed to take full toll, as a short delivery from Shoaib came on a touch too quickly and he holed out to deep square leg.

The onus was on Ross Taylor, who took his time to settle in and overcome the nervy start that has plagued him this series. He appeared to be getting back to his groove when just a firm push off Afridi raced to the extra-cover boundary and, in the company of Guptill, to whom he had ceded floor, kept his team in the hunt. It was in the attempt to rebuild after Guptill's fall that New Zealand lost it. Afridi and Hafeez got through their overs quickly, produced a spate of dot balls and deprived the hosts of a boundary for 11 straight overs. The resultant frustration from New Zealand yielded wickets for Pakistan, as Brendon McCullum got a leading edge to long-on while Styris was run out by a direct hit from Younis Khan.

Taylor fought on, managing a six off his favoured slog-sweep and began the batting Powerplay in the 41st over with a lofted drive against Wahab Riaz. Despite the field restrictions and with five wickets in hand, an asking rate of almost nine an over was going to be difficult to measure up to. In the next over he stepped across to sweep Afridi, only to miss and be trapped in front. And when James Franklin was cleaned up by a Riaz yorker, the depth in the New Zealand batting proved insufficient to secure the remaining runs or salvage some pride after 13 defeats in their last 14 completed games.

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