AUCKLAND, (Reuters) – New Zealand head to the World Cup having capped their one-day series loss to Pakistan with a face-saving victory, but face an uphill battle to repeat punch-above-their-weight heroics of past editions of the tournament.
Semi-finalists at three of the past five World Cups, New Zealand won Saturday’s match by 57 runs after a century from Jesse Ryder and a 120-run partnership between Scott Styris (58 not out) and Nathan McCullum (65) helped them to an imposing 311 for seven.
Pakistan had already won the series 3-1 before the game at Eden Park and while the motivation may have been not as intense as earlier, a quickfire 58-run partnership between Shahid Afridi (44) and Sohail Tanvir (30) had threatened to snatch victory before they were bowled out for 254.
“A bit inconsistent (for the series) but in saying that we were close in the other matches,” vice captain Ross Taylor told reporters. “Key people probably didn’t step up and other players got out at crucial times.
“The two matches we did win, players did step up so it shows that when we do step up we’re a competitive side.”
While the series finale showed New Zealand can be competitive, it failed to cover a dismal run of one-day results since August.
New Zealand had won just one of their previous 12 completed one day internationals on three tours of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India — the hosts of the upcoming World Cup — and began the series against Pakistan on an 11-match losing streak.
A nine-wicket victory in the first match at Wellington ended the streak, but also raised expectations for the rest of the series, which were not realised.
Too often, the top-order made promising starts but got out to rash shots when they needed to push on.
They also failed to keep the scoreboard ticking over when the field was spread, seemingly preferring to take the risk of clearing the boundary riders on the small grounds and instead hitting it straight to them.
The bowling at the death of an innings was also inconsistent, which the bowlers were aware of, Taylor said.
“I think it’s an area we have not performed where we would like,” he added. “The bowling up front has been pretty consistent but the death bowling is an area we haven’t quite mastered.
“We are trying to master the art of reverse swing bowling with the rough wickets in the subcontinent, it’s an area that we need to keep getting better at.”
There were also issues over the composition of the batting order, though the Eden Park match indicated they had settled on a lineup for the World Cup with Brendon McCullum opening with Martin Guptill and Ryder coming in at three.