BANGALORE: Sachin Tendulkar smashed 47th century in his One-day International career, while playing against England in a Group B match of the ICC Cricket World Cup here at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday.

Tendulkar who had made 28 against Bangladesh in the opening match of the tournament, completed the much awaited hundred in 103 balls, hitting four towering sixes and eight marvelous boundaries.

This was his fifth hundred in the World Cup and second against England.

High-scoring India-England match tied

BANGALORE: The crucial high-scoring match between India and England ended in a tie in the World Cup Group B clash here at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday.

Scores:
India: 338 in 49.5 overs.
England; 338-8 in 50 overs.

Afridi completes 300 ODI wickets

 

COLOMBO: Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has reached an important milestone of his career today when he completed 300 wickets in One-day Internationals here at the R Premadasa Stadium on Saturday.

His 33th victim was Sri Lanka captain and dashing batsman Kumar Sangakkara who was caught by Ahmed Shahzad for 49.

Afridi is the third Pakistani bowler after Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis to reach this milestone.

Pakistan send out warning with Cup win

NEW DELHI: Pakistan beat a powerful Sri Lankan side on Saturday for their second World Cup win, sending out an ominous statement of intent to their rivals as Bangalore geared up for the India-England showdown.

A sell-out crowd of 35,000 packed the R. Premadasa stadium in Colombo to witness the much-anticipated Group A clash between 1992 winners Pakistan and 1996 champions Sri Lanka, who both enjoyed convincing opening victories.

Pakistan, seeking to keep intact their record of never having lost a World Cup match against Sri Lanka, made a bright start and were indebted to an unbeaten 83 from Test skipper Misbah-ul-Haq and 72 from Younis Khan.

Sri Lanka made a good start to their reply but slipped to 96 for four and fell behind the run-rate, finally coming up 11 runs short on 266-9,

"That was a big game and the boys all knew how big that game was," said skipper Shahid Afridi, who picked up the man-of-the-match award for his 4-34.

"I think it's a great message for other teams that we will come harder and harder game by game."

Disappointed Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakarra said: "I think we made it a bit difficult for ourselves by losing wickets but we got a good start. We needed a couple of blokes to just kick on and keep batting for a longer time."

Pakistan win crucial match against Sri Lanka

COLOMBO: Pakistan after a tough fight defeated Sri Lanka by 11 runs in their crucial Group A match in the ICC World Cup here at the Premadasa Stadium on Saturday.

Shahid Afridi came up with another superb bowling performance after taking his first World Cup five-wicket haul in the previous match against Kenya.

He captured four for 34 runs which included his 300th one-day international wicket when he dismissed Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara for 49.

Sri Lanka, chasing Pakistan's total of 277-7, replied with 266-9.

They have now lost seven times to their sub-continental neighbours in the World Cup, falling in 1975, 1983 (twice), 1987 (twice) and 1992.

After captain Shahid Afridi won the toss, Pakistan stalwarts Younus Khan (72) and Misbah-ul-Haq (83) not out) shared a century partnership to set co-hosts Sri Lanka a challenging target to chase under lights.

But Pakistan spinners strangled the Sri Lankan batsmen, capturing six of the nine wickets to fall.

Sri Lanka got off to a good start with openers Upul Tharanga (33) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (41) putting together 76, but got bogged down in the middle overs and despite a late spurt towards the target fell agonisingly short.

Chamara Silva led a late onslaught with a top score of 57 and Nuwan Kulasekara hit a quick 24 off 14 balls, but Sri Lanka had left their run chase a little too late.

Openers Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga provided a sound start of 76 runs but Sri Lanka lost four quick wickets for 20 runs, reeling at 96 for four.

Then, captain Kumar Sangakkara and Thilan Samaraweera took the score to 167 before Sangakkara departed. They added 71 runs for the fifth wicket.

Other batsmen could not resist the accurate Pakistan bowling despite fielding lapses. But Chamara Silva batted aggressively to become top scorer for Sri Lanka with 57 off 78 balls.

Pakistan stalwarts Younus Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq shared a century partnership after Afridi had won the toss and chose to bat first.

The pair came together after Pakistan were reduced to 105 for three and they provided a solid foundation for Pakistan's eventual testing target.

Earlier, Mohammad Hafeez (32) and Kamran Akmal were left wondering which of them was out after a mix-up left them both comically stranded at the same end.

Kamran Akmal scampered to the striker's end for a quick single when Hafeez swept the ball behind the wicket facing off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan in the 13th over.

Hafeez did not move an inch, even after Sri Lanka wicketkeeper and skipper Kumar Sangakkara's initial wayward throw flew well over Muralitharan.

Angelo Mathews successfully returned it to the bowler for the simplest of run outs of, it turned out, Hafeez.

Kamran Akmal did not last for much longer and he fell to Rangana Herath after being easily stumped for 39.

Once Younus and Misbah came together, they employed a safety-first strategy and nudged the ball through gaps to pick up singles and twos instead of trying to score boundaries against tight bowling and sharp fielding by the Sri Lankans.

Younus struck four fours in his knock of 72 before he top edged a sweep off Herath to Mahela Jayawardene at short fine leg.

Misbah kept a cool head and played a solid innings to remain unbeaten 83 with six fours and batting with a runner.

Pakistan fielded an unchanged team while Sri Lanka made two changes as Chamara Kapugedera and Ajantha Mendis made way for Chamara Silva and left-arm spinner Rangana Herath.

Fast bowler Mohammad Aamer has appealed against the ICC ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Aamer had been banned for five years in spot fixing case by the ICC anti-corruption tribunal in Doha.

Talking with Geo News, Aamer told that he has sent an appeal against the ICC verdict, through his lawyer Shahid Karim to the Court of Arbitration for Sports and he hoped it would be received by the Court tomorrow.

Aamer said that this case would also be fought by Shahid Karim.

An International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-corruption tribunal in Doha on February 5 handed out longer bans to former Pakistan captain Salman Butt, seamers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif for the roles they played in bowling deliberate no-balls during last year's Test against England at Lord's.

Aussies record easy win against Kiwis

NAGPUR: Defendinging champions Australia overpowered New Zealand by seven wickets for a 25th straight World Cup victory in a dominant display here at the Vidarbha Cricket Ground on Friday.

Australia's fast bowlers, with Mitchell Johnson taking four wickets, led the way as New Zealand were bowled out for just 206 with nearly five overs of their innings left.

Left-armer Johnson finished with four for 33 and Shaun Tait three for 35.

That New Zealand even had the remotest chance was down to a battling fifty from Nathan McCullum and skipper Daniel Vettori's 44 with the duo combining well in an eighth-wicket stand of 54.

The Black Caps had earlier been in dire straits after their top order collapsed to 73 for six against the quicks from 66 for two.

Australia finished on 207 for three with a mammoth 16 overs to spare with Michael Clarke (24) and Cameron White (22) the not out batsmen as Australia also won the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy.

Australia openers Shane Watson and Brad Haddin were rarely troubled during a century first-wicket stand.

However, Watson, on 10, did successfully challenge an lbw appeal from seamer Tim Southee, originally upheld by Sri Lankan umpire Kumar Dharmasena, after replays showed the ball would have missed leg-stump.

Haddin, a fluent strokemaker, brought up his fifty in 39 balls with eight fours while Watson went to the landmark in 52 balls including a six off a Nathan McCullum off-break.

New Zealand's day appeared to be summed up when substitute Kane Williamson, at deep mid-wicket, dropped Watson on 59 off left-arm spinner Vettori.

But the Black Caps gave themselves a glimmer of hope when 133 without loss became 136 for two when fast bowler Hamish Bennett removed both openers in the space of three balls in the 19th over.

Haddin (55) hooked a looping bouncer to James Franklin and then Watson (62) inside-edged an intended square-cut onto his stumps.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting meanwhile could only manage 12 before he was brilliantly stumped down the legside by Brendon McCullum off Southee.

In a match played out against the backdrop of the Christchurch earthquake, Ponting won the toss and chose to field in overcast conditions.

Tait, following the economical Brett Lee, was erratic but removed dangerman Brendon McCullum for 16 when an attempted carve over the covers flew straight to Jason Krejza at third man.
  

Jesse Ryder hit six forceful fours but Johnson took two wickets in four balls in the 14th over to have the left-hander and Franklin edging to wicketkeeper Haddin as they both pushed limply at good length deliveries.

Tait then had Scott Styris caught behind for a duck and yorked Ross Taylor, who struggled to make seven off 22 balls.

One concern for Australia coming out of this match though would have been the way Nathan McCullum milked rival spinners Krejza and Steven Smith -- whose combined 18 overs yielded just one wicket for 91 runs.

Nathan McCullum top-scored for the Kiwis, completing a 72-ball fifty including three boundaries before he was lbw to Johnson for 52.

Pakistan grapple with Sri Lanka M-factor

COLOMBO: Pakistan will look to blunt Lasith Malinga and wily off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan in their Group A encounter against Sri Lanka on Saturday, with captain Shahid Afridi confident of a win.

Co-hosts Sri Lanka, champions in 1996, and 1992 winners Pakistan are off to flying starts in the tournament with convincing wins against minnows Canada and Kenya, and are primed for their first big match.

"I am confident that we are up to the Sri Lankan challenge and ready for anything they throw at us, whether its Malinga or Muralitharan," said Afridi.

Muralitharan, who has a world record 521 wickets in 342 one-day internationals, has a tally of 95 against Pakistan in 64 matches, and is even more dangerous in home conditions.

"In Sri Lankan conditions and pitches, he (Muralitharan) is always very dangerous and he could probably turn the ball on the marble as well. He has so much experience and knows conditions well and that's why he is the best," said Afridi.

Afridi said Malinga, renowned for his slingy action, would find it tough after missing the Canada match due to a back strain.

"Malinga is a very good bowler but he is coming back from an injury, so let's see how strong he is and how much he can adjust to the conditions," said Afridi.

Malinga has just ten wickets in nine matches against Pakistan including a best of 5-34.

Pakistan have also handled spinner Ajantha Mendis well. He has ten wickets against them in six matches.

Afridi hoped the sell-out match would be entertaining in a World Cup that needs a blockbuster clash between two of the big guns.

"It will be a good game. If we bowl well, bat well and go with positive body language and show more readiness for the game and willingness to win, I am sure we can pull it off," said Afridi.

Pakistan have never lost a World Cup match against Sri Lanka in six previous attempts but they were all before Sri Lanka became one of the top sides in the world game.

"The last match Sri Lanka played against us their fast bowlers did really well and they have a very good team combination. They've got good new guys in the side so we will have to play with our full strength and to win against them we need to give more than 100 percent effort," said Afridi.

Pakistan will look to improve on their starts -- both in batting and bowling -- at the match in Colombo.

"We are not short on motivation and our energy levels are good," said Afridi, looking to restrict the in-form Mahela Jayawardene, who scored a match-winning hundred during the team's 210-run win over Canada.

Besides Jayawardene, captain Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga are in good form with the bat.

Jayawardene acknowledged Pakistan were a dangerous side.

"They (Pakistan) are a very good side, so we look forward to playing Pakistan. The boys showed great attitude in the match against Canada," said Jayawardene.

Sri Lanka will likely bring Malinga into the side in place of Thisara Perera, who took three wickets in the Canada match.

Pakistan will try to squeeze in off-spinner Saeed Ajmal, who has not played since his father's death in January this year. 

South Africa win toss, put Windies into bat

NEW DELHI: South Africa captain Graeme Smith won the toss and elected to field in the World Cup Group B match against the West Indies at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium on Thursday.

South Africa went in with three specialist spinners in Johan Botha, Robin Peterson and the uncapped Imran Tahir.

The West Indies opted for just one specialist spinner in Sulieman Benn for the day-night clash.

South Africa, three-time World Cup semi-finalists, have won their last 11 matches against the West Indies, champions in 1975 and 1979.

South Africa: Graeme Smith (captain), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir.

West Indies: Darren Sammy (captain), Devon Thomas, Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Kemar Roach, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Smith.

Umpires: Simon Taufel (AUS) and Amish Saheba (IND), Third Umpire: Asoka de Silva (SL)
Match Referee: Jeff Crowe (NZ)

Acer: Best & Worst Laptop Brands 2010

Overall:57 out of 100 points
In early fall 2009 at Acer’s global press conference, the company’s head honchos stated their goal of overtaking Dell as the number 2 global PC vendor within the next few months. It was a pretty high bar, especially since the Acer brand wasn’t very well known in the U.S. before the Aspire One netbook brought the vendor to prominence. Yet when the 3rd quarter results came in, Acer squeezed by Dell, shipping 10.7 million units. This meteoric rise is due to the release of solid mainstream and ultraportable notebooks, as well as the company consistently offering great value in most categories. However, there is still room for improvement, particularly when it comes to design, software, and technical support.

Performance & Reviews: 10 out of 20 points
Tied for the middle ground with Samsung, such systems as those in the Timeline series offer above-average battery life, but the graphics performance among most Acer notebooks hasn’t been very impressive.

Design: 7 out of 15 points
With the exception of the Gemstone line and Ferrari One, most of Acer’s netbooks and notebooks look rather plain. The company instead put much of its energy into making its notebooks affordable, but we’d like to see some pizazz as well.

Keyboard & Touchpad: 10 out of 15 points
This brand’s FineTip keyboard is a bit of an acquired taste, but the typing experience is generally good. This helped the brand to an above-average showing in this category. However, the company’s touchpads could be larger and the buttons less stiff, particularly on netbooks.

Tech Support: 6 out of 15 points
E-mail exchanges for technical support should not take 24 hours to solve basic questions. The two-minute voicemail pitch for extended warranties was definitely a turnoff. And we’re not fans of the company’s limited support hours for some (but not all) systems.

Value & Selection: 12 out of 15 points
Though not strictly a budget brand, Acer’s mainstream notebook prices fall between $400 and $900. This helps the company make up for its lack of customization options. With very low prices and plenty of models available through both retail stores and online vendors, Acer earned a respectable third place in this category.

Software: 5 out of 10 points
The companies that score highest in this category have given a good amount of thought and energy into simplifying and improving the user experience. While Acer doesn’t ignore software—it includes a handful of convenient tools with its laptops, such as eRecover and Launch Manager—there is a lot of room to grow here.

Customer Satisfaction: 3 out of 5 points
Its 23.3 percent failure rate on the third-party SquareTrade study is fairly disappointing. And the comments we received have been mixed, with one reader exclaiming, “All the Acer products I have bought were built poorly.” But another said, “I like the focus on price, battery life, and great designs.” With 60 percent of our readers ranking the brand as above average, giving it a B or higher, the good and the bad seem to have cancelled each other out.

Innovation: 4 out of 5 points
Acer was among the first to offer touch (on the Aspire 5738PG) and 3D (Aspire 5738DG) at affordable prices, which puts this company at a close second to ASUS for its forward thinking.

Rejuvenated Liverpool spoil Torres’ Chelsea debut

LONDON: Liverpool’s recovery under Kenny Dalglish reached a new high on Sunday with a 1-0 victory at Chelsea as former Reds striker Fernando Torres failed to make an impact on his debut for the London club.
Chelsea’s celebrations at snatching Torres from Anfield for $80 million on Monday were muted by Liverpool’s $18 million midfielder, Raul Meireles, scoring the winning goal.

Meireles, who arrived from FC Porto in August, hit a fourth goal in five games in the 69th minute after Steven Gerrard’s cross was missed by Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech and defender Branislav Ivanovic.
“Raul Meireles is in a real rich vein of form at the moment,” Dalglish said. “The wee man gets up in support in the box and has great technique.”The goal helped to spare some of Maxi Rodriguez’s earlier embarrassment after the Argentina winger fluffed his connection with Gerrard’s pass and hit the crossbar when he had an open net.

 
Torres was limited to just two meaningful goalward efforts during 66 minutes on the pitch, with an early long-range strike going high into the stands and another shot blocked by former teammate Jamie Carragher.
“We have to give Fernando time to adjust to the shape (of the team),” Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti said. “He has experience, he has confidence, he didn’t show problems before the game.”

 
While Liverpool’s travelling fans taunted Torres with banners and chants, Dalglish was in no mood for gloating. “I’m not here to talk about someone else’s player,” said the manager, who has returned to the Liverpool job after 20 years. “I’m here to talk about my own players.”
Those players, who were battling relegation when Dalglish was hired a month ago, are now in contention for Europa League qualification. The 18-time champions have won their last four matches without conceding a goal and are six points behind Chelsea, who are fourth in the final Champions League spot.
When Dalglish replaced Roy Hodgson, Liverpool were four points above the relegation zone after their worst start for more than 50 years. Now the players want American owner John Henry to extend Dalglish’s contract beyond the end of the season.

 
“As a club and as players we didn’t do enough to help the manager (Hodgson) out — the performances weren’t good enough and obviously the managers take the brunt of it,” Carragher said. “Things have improved now and Kenny coming has got everyone onside... for everyone, especially me and Stevie (Gerrard), he’s a hero to us. The results are obviously going very well.”
Chelsea had also hoped to secure a fourth straight league win on Sunday after Torres was signed to reinvigorate their title defence. But the Blues remain fourth — 10 points behind leaders Manchester United, who lost for the first time this season at Wolverhampton on Saturday.

 
“We have to try to fight again for the title,” Ancelotti said. “It could happen that United can lose again. Every team can lose.” Chelsea were denied a late penalty when Ivanovic tumbled under Glen Johnson’s shoulder-charge.

 
“It was a penalty, but we didn’t play well,” Ancelotti said. “We were not good enough to win this game. They defended very well and we were not able to find the right space to attack.” While Torres was rushed into action by Ancelotti, his Anfield replacements didn’t play at Stamford Bridge.
Andy Carroll is still recovering from injury and Dalglish resisted handing a second appearance to unused substitute Luis Suarez, in spite of the Uruguayan netting on Wednesday in a win over Stoke.
Dirk Kuyt was handed the lone striking role, supported by Meireles and Gerrard. “Suarez is a fantastic footballer, he got off to a great start, and we’re looking forward to him getting in the team on a regular basis,” Dalglish said. “It’s correct he gets some time to bed down.”

Carragher’s crucial diving block to thwart Torres from Didier Drogba’s cross came on the 33-year-old central defender’s first appearance since sustaining a shoulder injury on November 28.
“It’s like getting another player in,” Dalglish said. “It’s great credit to his level of fitness, even at his age. He’s not a teenager any more ... he won’t be feeling as good tomorrow, perhaps, but it was great to have him pushing people into position, talking and encouraging.”
[Courtesy The News International]

Intikhab, Waqar call for Pakistan fresh start

LAHORE: Pakistan coach Waqar Younis and team manager Intikhab Alam called Tuesday for a fresh start for the national side after three key players were handed lengthy bans on corruption charges.

Riding high after winning the Test and one-day series in New Zealand, the Pakistan team flew home to Karachi and Lahore three days after an International Cricket Council (ICC) tribunal sanctioned the trio.

Salman Butt was banned for 10 years, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer for seven and five years respectively, after allegations surfaced during last year's tour of England that they were willing to deliberately bowl no-balls.

"It is important that it's finished now and we can start afresh," Waqar told reporters at Lahore airport.

"We can now make a fresh start after a lot of controversies affected Pakistan cricket and I am happy that it's over now."

Waqar was coach during England tour where the scandal erupted and gave testimony to the ICC tribunal in Qatar by tele-conference, but said the bans did not affect the successful New Zealand tour.

"The players didn't talk about it at any time, so there was no way it could affect the team's performances on the tour," said Waqar, who welcomed the 3-2 one-day series win in New Zealand.

"I am sure this one-day series win will give us a good build-up for the World Cup," said Waqar, who took over as coach in March last year.

"We have good momentum, having played South Africa recently and now this hard-fought win in New Zealand gives us good momentum for the World Cup."

Team manager Alam expressed sadness at the bans but added, "we must move on from here, for the sake of our cricket."

One-day captain Shahid Afridi, who earlier flew into Karachi from New Zealand, refused to answer questions on the bans.

Pakistan is in Group A of the 14-team World Cup which is hosted by Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka between February 19 and April 2.

Schalke earns 4 points after goalless draw at Dortmund

DORTMUND, Germany: Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer produced an outstanding performance on Friday to earn his side Schalke 04 a point after a goalless draw at Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund.

With Germany set to face Italy in a friendly here at Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park on Wednesday, Neuer boosted his chances of facing the Italians in the battle with Leverkusen's goalkeeper Rene Adler for Germany's Number One shirt.

While the result extends Dortmund's lead at the top of the table to 12 points before the rest of the weekend's matches, Dortmund were only denied a potential-winning goal by Neuer's performance between the posts.

With five players nominated by national coach Joachim Loew to face Italy, Dortmund are setting the pace in the Bundesliga this season, but despite a string of chances they could not break Schalke's defence.

Dortmund began the game with a hiss and a roar as they laid seige to the Schalke goal, but the Royal Blues weather the storm.

Paraguay striker Lucas Barrios went close several times in the first half alone to keep Schalke in their own half, while Germany squad member Mario Goetze also went close in the early stages.

Barrios hit the post in the 55th minute, but Neuer could not be beaten.

With five minutes remaining, Goetze broke through and beat Neuer, but with the goal at his mercy he hit the post and Schalke scrambled the danger away.

Second-placed Leverkusen are at Nuremberg on Saturday and will be looking to close the gap behind Dortmund, while defending champions Bayern Munich travel to face struggling Cologne.

Pakistan win series despite losing 6th ODI against Kiwis

AUCKLAND: Jesse Ryder scored his second one day international century to help New Zealand earn a face-saving 57-run victory over Pakistan at Eden Park on Saturday in the sixth and final match of their series.

The win was just New Zealand's second in their last 16 completed ODIs and was sorely needed to give them a hint of self belief before they head to the World Cup in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Ryder scored 107 and combined in a 123-run partnership with Martin Guptill (44), while a 120-run partnership between Scott Styris (58 not out) and Nathan McCullum (65) at the end of the innings helped New Zealand to an imposing 311 for seven.

Wicketkeeper Kamral Akmal top-scored for the visitors, who held an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series before the match at Eden Park, with 89, including three glorious successive sixes into the lower deck of the impressive new grandstand at the ground.

Captain Shahid Afridi (44) also provided some late jitters for the New Zealanders as he combined with Sohail Tanvir (30) before being caught by Nathan McCullum off Hamish Bennett, who finished with for four for 46.

All rounder James Franklin captured three for 50 to give the small crowd something to cheer about when Pakistan were dismissed for 254.

Ryder, who was struggling with a leg injury and needed a runner for the latter part of his innings, blazed his way to his first 50 runs off 34 balls before the Pakistani bowlers restricted New Zealand through the middle overs.

The 26-year-old Ryder still managed to bring up his century off 82 balls with a flick off his hip to fine leg for his seventh boundary. He also smashed six sixes into the stands.

Styris and Nathan McCullum then batted intelligently for the final overs for a 120-run partnership, which included 71 runs in the third powerplay block of five overs before McCullum holed out in the deep.

Pakistan Win Cricket Series against Newzealand

Shehzad’s maiden century helps Pakistan post 268

AUCKLAND: Ahmed Shehzad notched his first one-day international century to help Pakistan reach 268 for nine in the fifth match against New Zealand at Seddon Park, Hamilton on Thursday.

Shehzad brought up his century in 101 balls, with 11 fours and two sixes, as the visitors set a challenging target for New Zealand to chase in order to save the six-match series. Pakistan hold a 2-1 lead with the final game in Auckland on Saturday.

The 19-year-old was eventually caught in the deep by James Franklin off Scott Styris for 115 in the 38th over.

New Zealand's bowlers had varied their pace and length to restrict the free-scoring Pakistani batsmen in the final few overs and the visitors would be disappointed not to have scored more runs.

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori did not play after he sustained a hamstring injury in the fourth match in Napier on Tuesday. Jesse Ryder, who missed the game at McLean Park with a finger injury, returned to the side.

Akon - Right Now (Na Na Na) with lyrics