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Daniel Vettori is not the sort of bloke to reveal his emotions lightly but those who looked closely could see a hint of a satisfied grin on the captain's face after the BLACKCAPS one-day cricket international drought came to a dramatic end here last night.
And he had good reason to be pleased.
On the back of 11 consecutive one-day losses in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India late last year, New Zealand played the near perfect match to inflict a nine-wicket defeat on Pakistan in the first of six matches leading into the subcontinent-hosted World Cup starting next month.
Pakistan won the toss and batted on what was thought to be a flat deck but everything the home bowlers touched turn to gold as the tourists were dismissed for 124 in the 38th over. New Zealand quickly chased down the target inside 18 overs for the loss of one wicket.
"It was a really good start," Vettori said in a classic case of understatement.
"The swing at the start from Tim (Southee) was the key and it put the Pakistani guys under a lot of pressure. We never really let up."
Southee was the star of the show with five for 33 from 9.3 overs. He was near unplayable at the top of the innings as he mixed consistent outswing with the odd bit of movement both ways off the pitch to claim his first five-for in one-day internationals.
He was backed up by Hamish Bennett, who took three for 26 from eight overs in his third match at this level.
Bennett was the second change bowler but he generated good pace and bounce from the outset -- he was clocked consistently at about the 140kmh mark -- and also gained enough movement to be a handful.
Jacob Oram's return to international cricket after knee surgery was successful, the big allrounder bowling a nagging line and also getting movement to end with two for 33 from 10, while left-armer James Franklin was a surprise opening bowler but he proved good foil for Southee in four wicketless overs.
Interestingly, all 10 Pakistan wickets were claimed from the northern end as New Zealand cruised to their seventh consecutive win at Wellington Stadium.
"To be honest I thought (the pitch) was going to be a bit flatter than that but it just had enough in it, and sometimes those wickets that just have a little bit in them are the hardest to play on," Vettori said.
"But I look at it as good bowling. I think we were able to hold on to that pressure and no bowler who came into the attack let it up. From that top end, I could just keep attacking with Tim and Hamish and we kept getting wickets, so that made it easier."
Southee rightly hogged the newspaper headlines today but Vettori made a point of acknowledging Bennett's contribution as the Canterbury quick heaps pressure on veteran Kyle Mills ahead of the World Cup.
"I think he was a little bit nervous, he had only played the two games (in Bangladesh) and this was his first time in front of a New Zealand crowd, which is probably why we held him back to bowl first change," Vettori said.
"Once he got through that first over I thought he was outstanding, he hit really good areas and he bowled with good pace."
If there was a downside for New Zealand from the match it was that most of the batsmen did not get a chance although the new opening partnership of Jesse Ryder and Martin Guptill fired with an 84-run partnership from 10 overs.
Ryder blazed away in a return to the runscoring circle with 55 from 34 balls, while Guptill ended 40 not out and Ross Taylor was unbeaten on 23.
"I just think you take that and you hope the confidence from the win fuels it's way down into the rest of the guys," Vettori said.
Only Misbah-ul-Haq, with 50, showed any fight for the tourists but Vettori was not reading anything into the lopsided result.
"Pakistan showed a lot of mettle throughout the test series and they're probably a better one-day team," he said.
"They've got some good players who have come in, particularly (captain Shahid Afridi), so I think they're going to bounce back pretty quickly."
The second match is at Queenstown on Wednesday.
NZPA
