New Zealand ended an 11-match losing streak in emphatic fashion on Saturday, crushing Pakistan by nine wickets in their first One-Day International at Westpac Stadium.
New Zealand's opening combination of Jesse Ryder (55) and Martin Guptill (40 not out) made a mockery of the troubles Pakistan had with the drop-in pitch as New Zealand raced to their target of 125 for the loss of one wicket in 17.2 overs.
Ryder and Guptill brought up the first 50 runs inside six overs and were then forced to take the scheduled tea break after New Zealand had earlier bowled the visitors out for 124 in 37.3 overs.
Tim Southee took a career-best 5-33, while wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum took five catches in an innings for the fourth time.
"Instead of giving any credit to the pitch we should give credit to the New Zealand bowlers, particularly Tim Southee," Pakistan coach Waqar Younis said.
"He swung the ball and put it in the right areas. Swinging the ball is one thing but putting it in the right areas... we just kept nicking him."
Ryder scored 32 of New Zealand's first 50 runs with three fours and two sixes prior to the break and continued afterwards bringing up his fourth one-day half century off 31 balls before he was caught on the boundary by Asad Shafiq off Sohail Tanvir.
Ross Taylor was 23 not out with Guptill at the end of the game.
"Jesse and Martin like to bat together, they're good friends... and they played really well and enjoyed playing on that wicket," New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said.
Pakistan, who had won the toss and opted to bat, never looked comfortable with New Zealand's pace bowlers getting good bounce, shape and movement away, causing them to prod at deliveries.
"It was a really good start," Vettori added.
"The swing from Tim at the start was the key in putting them under pressure and we never let them up, so a great start for us in the series."
Test captain Misbah-ul-haq was again the mainstay of Pakistan's batting effort with 50, though the rest of the side failed to build any meaningful partnerships, with both Hamish Bennett and Jacob Oram flirting with hat-tricks.
Bennett finished with 3-26 and Oram 2-33.
The next match is on Wednesday in Queenstown.
Scorecard:
Pakistan innings
K Akmal c Ryder b Southee 8
M Hafeez c B McCullum b Southee 0
Y Khan c B McCullum b Bennett 24
A Shafiq lbw b Southee 4
Misbah-ul-haq b Southee 50
U Akmal c Taylor b Bennett 0
S Afridi c B McCullum b Southee 15
A Razzaq c B McCullum b Oram 6
A Rehman c B McCullum b Oram 0
S Tanvir c Ryder b Bennett 6
S Akhtar not out 1
Extras: 10 (w-9, lb-1)
Total: 124 (all out, 37.3 overs)
Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-22, 3-29, 4-57, 5-57, 6-88, 7-96, 8-96, 9-106, 10-124
Bowling: Franklin 4-1-13-0, Southee 9.3-0-33-5 (w-4), Oram 10-0-33-2 (w-4), Bennett 8-0-26-3 (w-1), Vettori 6-0-18-0.
New Zealand innings
M Guptill not out 40
J Ryder c Shafiq b Sohail 55
R Taylor not out 23
Extras: 7 (w-6, lb-1)
Total: 125 (for one wicket, 17.2 overs)
Fall of wickets: 1-84
Bowling: Akhtar 4-0-47-0 (w-1), Sohail 7-0-39-1 (w-5), Razzaq 4-0-21-0, Afridi 1.2-0-7-0, Rehman 1-0-10-0.
