DUBAI: Ross Taylor hit a fighting century to help New Zealand score a challenging 246-7 in the opening ODI of the five-match ser­ies against Pakistan here on Monday.

The 30-year-old scored a 135-ball 105 not out for his 11th ODI hundred after New Zealand, put into bat were dera­iled by some pace bowling by Moham­mad Irfan who finished with 3-57.

Taylor added 58 for the seventh wicket with Daniel Vettori (27) in the final overs after steadying the innings during a 44-run sixth wicket stand with Luke Ronchi, who made 23.

Irfan had dismissed opener Dean Brownlie (14) and skipper Kane Williamson (10) in his first five-over spell before returning to take Ronchi’s wicket in the 38th over.

Tom Latham was run out for 13 and Jimmy Neesham was lbw to Shahid Afridi for one as New Zealand were left struggling at 111-5.

Paceman Wahab Riaz claimed the wickets of opener Anton Devcich (26) and Vettori to finish with 2-51.

But Taylor kept one end intact, reaching his 27th one-day fifty with a single and kept New Zealand in the hunt for a respectable total.

He hit Umar Gul for a six and a four and then took a sharp single to complete his hundred off 133 balls with eight fours and a six. He hit another four off Wahab on the final ball as New Zealand made 41 in the last five overs.

PAKISTAN captain Misbah-ul-Haq tosses the coin as he stands next to his New Zealand counterpart Kane Williamson.—AFP

Pakistan included all-rounder Moham­mad Hafeez as a batsman alone after he was suspended over an illegal bowling action but left out hard-hitting Umar Akmal.

That left Pakistan with four genuine bowlers but part-timer Haris Sohail chipped in with 10 overs for 39 runs.

New Zealand were forced to sit out opener Martin Guptill and all-rounder Corey Anderson due to injuries.

Scoreboard

NEW ZEALAND:

A.P. Devcich c Sarfraz b Wahab 26

D.G. Brownlie c Shehzad b Irfan 14

K.S. Williamson c Sarfraz b Irfan 10

L.R.P.L. Taylor not out 105

T.W.M. Latham run out 13

J.D.S. Neesham lbw b Afridi 1

L. Ronchi c Younis b Irfan 23

D.L. Vettori b Wahab 27

N.L. McCullum not out 13

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-4, W-8, NB-1) 14

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 50 overs) 246

FALL OF WKTS: 1-26, 2-44, 3-63, 4-99, 5-111, 6-155, 7-213.

DID NOT BAT: K.D. Mills, A.F Milne.

BOWLING: Umar Gul 9-0-49-0; Mohammad Irfan 10-1-57-3 (3w); Wahab Riaz 10-0-51-2 (1nb, 1w); Haris Sohail 10-0-39-0 (3w); Shahid Afridi 10-1-36-1 (1w); Asad Shafiq 1-0-9-0

PAKISTAN: Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Misbah-ul-Haq, Haris Sohail, Sarfraz Ahmed, Shahid Afridi, Wahab Riaz, Umar Gul, Mohammad Irfan.

UMPIRES: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and J.S. Wilson (West Indies).

TV UMPIRE: R.K. Illingworth (England).

MATCH REFEREE: R.S. Mahanama (Sri Lanka).

Published in Dawn December 9th , 2014