Pakistan fell to a 73-run defeat in the opening one-day international after Mark Chapman hit a magnificent century for New Zealand in Napier on Saturday.
Going into the match on the back of a 4-1 T20 series defeat against the Black Caps, captain Muhammad Rizwan won the toss and decided to field first at McLean Park.
It looked a decent call when Henry Nicholls (11) bottom edged to Babar Azam in the covers to leave New Zealand teetering on 50-3 after Will Young (one) and Nick Kelly (15) had also fallen cheaply.
But from then on, the home side took control as Chapman and Daryl Mitchell (76 off 84) put together 199 for the fourth wicket, with the former scoring a career-best 132 off 111 balls.
Pakistan-born all-rounder Muhammad Abbas (52) then set a record for the fastest half-century on debut when he reached 50 off 24 balls helping New Zealand reach an imposing 344-9.
“It was certainly very tricky early on and we were probably aiming for something lower than what we got in the end,” said player of the match Chapman, whose knock included 13 fours and six sixes.
“We were just trying to absorb pressure and got into a position to put pressure back on them. We rode our luck, got a platform and then Abbas put the icing on the cake. It was outstanding to see.
“It felt like the ball was moving around for pretty long time but the conditions got better later.”
Chapman also revealed that he left the field during Pakistan's reply due to a hamstring problem, “which is not ideal,” he added. “But hopefully after some rest I should be back for the next game.”
Pakistan's seam-heavy attack capitalised on lively bounce but they were punished later.
Left-arm quick Akif Javed claimed 2-55 on his international debut, but the best figures were recorded by part-time seamer Irfan Khan, who took 3-51 off five expensive overs at the death.
In reply, the tourists looked in good shape on at 249-3, at that point needing 96 runs to win, with more than 11 overs remaining.
Abdullah Shafique (36), Abdullah Shafique (39) and Rizwan (30) all made contributions, without going on for that all-important big innings.
The recalled Babar looked on course for a 20th ODI hundred when on 78 he pulled a Will O'Rourke ball to deep midwicket where it was picked off by Mitchell just inside the boundary rope.
That sparked a collapse that saw Pakistan's last seven wickets falling for 22 runs – as they were bowled out for 271 with seamer Nathan Smith claiming 4-60.
Salman Agha struck a defiant 58 off 48, but he was let down by the lower order with the bottom six producing just three runs between them.
“We started the innings with good intent,” Rizwan said. “Obviously, at the end, the pressure increases because you're getting nearer to the chase. We lost wickets and it changed the momentum.
“The pitch was not good early on, difficult to bat on … [but] Chapman played fantastically and put on good runs. We need to improve more and take benefit of the toss.
“We had some new guys in the middle order and it's difficult because they are playing in challenging conditions.”
Home captain Michael Bracewell was proud of the “New Zealand spirit” shown by his team who went 1-0 up in the three-match series.
“It was a great game of ODI cricket, lots of ebbs and flows,” said Bracewell, who contributed nine with the bat and finished with figures of 1-60 off his ten overs with the ball.
“You can apply some T20 skills that the young players are learning quickly. It's great to see ODI cricket still alive I guess.”
On 21-year-old Abass's record knock, he added: “It's a great sign for domestic cricket that guys coming in and stepping up and playing the way they play in domestic cricket.”
