BLACKCAPS 246-7 (Ross Taylor 105*, Dan Vettori 27, Mohammad Irfan 3-57) lost to Pakistan 250-7 (Haris Sohail 85*, Shahid Afridi 61, Dan Vettori 2-40) by three wickets at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
A hard-earned century from Ross Taylor, his third ODI ton in a row, took the BLACKCAPs to the competitive total of 244-7. Despite a poor start to their pursuit, the partnership of 110 from Harris Sohail (85) and Shahid Afridi (61) saw Pakistan home , edging out game one by three wickets.
The BLACKCAPS seemed in control early thanks to to strikes by Kyle Mills, Jimmy Neesham and Dan Vettori - Ahmed Shehzad resisted for 28 runs from 41 balls but became Vettori's second scalp by an lbw in the 13th. When the dangerous Misbah ul Haq was spectacularly caught by Vettori, who ran back from mid on and stuck out a hand to drag it in over his head, Pakistan were in all kinds of trouble at 5-86.
Sarfraz Ahmad's departure for 26 in the 31st over brought Sohail and Afridi togehter in what would prove the match winning partnership. Afridi played a circumspect game for him, happy to take singles and look for boundaries with finesse rather than power.
At the other end, Sohail played a watchful innings, supporting Afridi as the pair reeled in the runs required / balls ratio from the difficult to the manageable. Afridi finally cut loose with the finish line in sight, hitting Mills for a huge six in the 47th over, but he was run out attempting a quick single in the next over, thanks to a Ross Taylor direct hit.
It was left to Sohail and Wahab Riaz to apply the finish, which they did with three balls left, giving Pakistan a 1-0 series lead.
Earlier, Kane Williamson's luck with the toss hadn't changed, losing his third on the trot. Pakistan opted to bowl first and it wasn't long before they had the BLACKCAPS under pressure. Initially, Anton Devcich (26) and Dean Brownlie (14) put on 24 for the first wicket, before the latter departed in the sixth over. Williamson (10) came in and also made a start, but none of the top three were able to push on to a big score.
At 63-3 the BLACKCAPS were in need of someone to anchor the innings and like so many times in the past, Taylor took on the role brilliantly.
A hiccup early on saw Latham (13) run out, but the experienced number four would steer the BLACKCAPS to a competitive total. The going was tough for a start, with Pakistan making runs hard to come by. For much of the innings it looked like a score of 200 was on the cards, but late cameos from Dan Vettori (27) and Nathan McCullum (15*) elevated the BLACKCAPS to close to 250.
In the final over of the innings, Taylor finally got his reward, bringing up his 100 off 133 balls. His 12th ODI ton and second hundred of the tour, Taylor is coming into the summer in ominous form.
