As the New Zealand and Pakistan batting worms wound through each other like a double helix of DNA in Dubai this morning, neither side could have wished for better World Cup preparation.
Pakistan eventually triumphed by three wickets with three balls to spare after New Zealand posted 246 for seven.
Both line-ups were given robust workouts under significant pressure in the latter stages. Much like the test series, the ebbs and flows came in swift bursts.
Pakistan crumbled to 86 for five in the 26th over before Haris Sohail and Shahid Afridi brought them to the cusp of victory with a record seventh wicket partnership of 110.
Ross Taylor's run out of Afridi for 61 off 51 balls (the first time he'd faced more than 25 balls in 17 months) left 13 runs required off as many deliveries.
However, the momentum was irreversible as Sohail hooked the winning runs off Jimmy Neesham to finish with 85 off 109 balls.
Adam Milne went wicketless in conceding 42 runs but regularly bowled in excess of 150km/h. Kyle Mills showed guile, particularly in his earlier spells and Daniel Vettori and Nathan McCullum combined for 18 overs in which they conceded just 75 runs and took three wickets. The captaincy of Kane Williamson was also given a stern test in its infancy, especially juggling his bowlers in the latter stages.
New Zealand had also teetered at 111 for five in the 29th over but one of the current team's best assets, even without Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill and Corey Anderson, is the batting depth. Ross Taylor's 105 off 135 balls was the anchor but Luke Ronchi (23 runs from 27 balls) and Daniel Vettori (27 from 25) boosted the cadence even if the second power play haul of 23 for one from overs 36-40 hinted at stagnation. The final 10 overs produced 78 for one as Vettori's wild pivots around an invisible fulcrum on the crease disrupted Pakistan's line and length.
Earlier Taylor became the first New Zealander to score three consecutive one-day international centuries, joining a list featuring just five players - Pakistan's Zaheer Abbas and Saeed Anwar and South Africa's Herschelle Gibbs, AB de Villiers and Quinton de Kock.
Taylor wasn't at his most fluent but that was the beauty of his innings. He has the control and discipline in his game to graft beyond natural ability. He batted exactly 40 overs and only reached his 50 in 86 deliveries before accelerating to make the total competitive.
At times Taylor struggled to hit the ball off the block and chastised himself but such hindrances didn't blur his focus. He stuck to his modus operandi of pushing singles into the offside and driving and cutting the odd boundary. He made an exception to hook Umar Gul for the New Zealand scorecard's solitary six in the 44th over.
The innings was a lesson in why this team should display urgency but never panic with the home World Cup 67 days away.
Taylor's previous two centuries came against India in January. He now has 11 in the 50-over format from 138 matches. Need context? Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards made his 11 in 187 matches, albeit at a strike rate of 90 and average of 47, compared to Taylor's 82 and 41.04. Still, those are the sorts of players with whom Taylor's rubbing statistical shoulders.
Earlier the New Zealand innings stumbled too often at 26 for one, 44 for two, 63 for three and 99 for four. Incisive Pakistani bowling applied the brakes. Steepling deliveries from 2.16m Mohammad Irfan must have felt like getting peppered from 15 yards rather than 22. His accuracy with three for 57 from 10 overs was reinforced by aggressive contributions from Wahab Riaz (two for 51) and Afridi (one for 36). With Mohammad Hafeez currently banned for chucking, Pakistan had to scramble for a fifth bowler. Sohail, who'd previously bowled just 12 balls in List A cricket, delivered consistent left-arm orthodox service with none for 39 from his allotment before playing his match-winning innings.
Younis Khan also added masterly fielding touches with the run out of Tom Latham and the catch of Ronchi after running backwards at mid-wicket.
Batsmen to score three consecutive ODI centuries
Zaheer Abbas (Pakistan), v India, 1982-83
Saeed Anwar (Pakistan), v Sri Lanka/West Indies, 1993
Herschelle Gibbs (South Africa), Kenya/India/Bangladesh, 2002
AB de Villiers (South Africa), v India/West Indies, 2010
Quinton de Kock (South Africa), v India, 2013
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