HAMILTON, NEW ZEALAND // Shahid Afridi lamented his side's impotent bowling display after New Zealand recorded a series-clinching victory yesterday.
The limited-overs captain would have been expecting his seam bowlers to exploit the bowler-friendly conditions at a damp Seddon Park and the portents looked encouraging when Abdul Razzaq had Jesse Ryder caught behind off the first ball of the match.
However, that wicket proved to be the high-water mark for the visitors as the Black Caps racked up a total of 185 for seven.
Afridi, with some justification, would have been disappointed with the contributions of Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul, who went at over 10 and 15 an over, respectively. Gul was hit for 24 from one over by Peter McGlashan.
"I'm disappointed from the bowling side," Afridi said. "We didn't bowl well, especially our experienced bowlers and put the ball in the right areas. They played positively and we didn't bowl to our strength which is the yorker."
Martin Guptill and James Franklin capitalised on some wayward bowling, forming a productive partnership for the second wicket that yielded 91 runs.
Scott Styris then made 34, the captain Ross Taylor stroked 30 not out off 40 balls. McGlashan's 26 came off just 13 balls.
In reply, Nathan McCullum raced through the Pakistan middle order to finish with four for 16 from four overs.
The spinner dismissed Younus Khan for three, Asad Shafiq for six, Razzaq for 14 and Gul for nought, then took two catches to provoke the collapse of the Pakistan innings after the tourists had been 68 for one in the eighth over.
