Cricket: Black Caps cruise to win

Martin Guptill gave the Black Caps a solid start to their chase. Photo / Getty

Pakistan 210 in 45.3 overs
New Zealand 213-3 to win by seven wickets with 10.3 overs to spare

Pakistan's mercurial nature make them hard to dominate but New Zealand sustained control tonight for all but the blip of a Shahid Afridi batting cameo in their seven-wicket victory.

The key partnership came for the fourth wicket between Ross Taylor (59 off 81 balls) and Grant Elliott (64 off 68). The pair quelled the bounce of 2.16m Mohammad Irfan and used their feet deftly to spinners Shahid Afridi and Haris Sohail to produce an unbeaten 112-run partnership.

Taylor's anchoring role was a credit to his professionalism and Elliott's international redemption continued to impress. The partnership began with a few squirts, nicks and jabs but they survived by rotating the strike and demonstrating the maturity required to contend at the World Cup.

Earlier, Martin Guptill stared down adversity to post 39 from 48 balls and lay the foundations for the chase. His left elbow was high and he leant forward at the point of delivery, an intimidating prospect when you consider the first bowler he faced was Irfan.

The crowd willed him on, first with ironic applause after a boundary followed a first-ball lbw appeal which struck too high. The cheering escalated as his innings blossomed. As he exited the cacophony suggested he had earned his way back onto the radar of public adulation.

On Friday coach Mike Hesson spoke of avoiding a "headmaster's office" culture for anyone with brittle form. Guptill is a beneficiary of such an iron-willed endorsement. His fielding contribution of three catches and numerous saves within the 30m circle were also valuable.

Jury rig No.3 Tom Latham could take solace from his 23. The contribution sufficed, especially after he apparently came into the side for Kane Williamson 10 minutes before the start. Williamson's tender left shoulder saw him take a precautionary rest.

For all their inconsistency, Pakistan lead the list of 'teams you'd prefer not to meet in a World Cup play-off'.

For instance, Shahid Afridi might bat at No.8 but it's hard to think of a more entertaining batsman to watch in the limited overs formats.

Pakistan were flailing at 127 for six when he arrived.

However, there's a reason he's earned the pseudonym Boom! Boom! Deliveries started disappearing to all parts as he dominated a partnership of 71 with Misbah-ul-Haq. The baseball-style pinstripes in the Pakistani uniform seemed appropriate as three balls cleared the rope and nine others reached the boundary, courtesy of his chutzpah.

Afridi scored 62 runs, Misbah six and extras three in their innings-rectifying stand. No wonder Misbah felt compelled to slog to deep mid-wicket for 58 from 87 off Elliott, New Zealand's most successful bowler with three for 26 from 4.3 overs.

Afridi finished with 67 off 29. The No.8's contribution was a distraction from a respectable New Zealand bowling performance.

The match offered Kyle Mills, Trent Boult and a returning Adam Milne the chance to stake a claim to a more permanent World Cup spot. Each presented a solid case.

Mills was relentless, finishing by the 22nd over with figures of two for 29, having avoided contact with Afridi; a fully-fit Milne eased into his workload, clocking speeds in the low 140km/h range and his one for 43 was inflated by the wrath of Afridi in his latter overs; Boult showed skill and parsimony with two for 25 from nine overs but struggled to generate his customary swing.

Nathan McCullum received an opportunity at the expense of Daniel Vettori. He bowled his opening five overs steadily for 22 runs before Afridi tonked his sixth, pasting two sixes in a total of 15 runs.

Corey Anderson was another wrong-place-wrong-time bowler, going for 47 from his six but he secured the wickets of Sarfraz Ahmed and Haris Sohail who exited to the theme of Ghostbusters in a nod to claims of a supernatural experience at a Christchurch hotel last week.