Farhat, Youhana give Pakistan victory

Imran Farhat and Yousuf Youhana guided Pakistan to a six-wicket victory in the second one-day international against New Zealand on Tuesday to level the five-match series at 1-1.

Pakistan posted a total of 236 for four in 47 overs with Youhana 88 not out.

Earlier a 91-run seventh wicket partnership between Jacob Oram (54) and Brendon McCullum (56 not out) helped New Zealand to 235 for eight.

Farhat was finally out for 87 to give Daniel Vettori his first wicket of the series, but with the score at 195 in the 38th over, Pakistan were well on their way to squaring the series.

"Those two very good players gave us a one-day batting lesson," said New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming.

"They took the pressure off themselves and put it right on us. They seemed to be able to score runs at will. They'd push the ball to the deep and they were so fast they were scoring twos and threes if they didn't go to the boundary.

"Then we bring the field in and their placement is perfect. They put us under so much pressure and it was an education."

Inzamam-ul Haq joined Youhana and the two looked like taking the tourists to the 236 required, but Inzamam fell with 10 still required.

CRUISED HOME

Pakistan cruised home with three overs to spare, when Shoaib Malik hit two boundaries in the 46th over to bring victory.

"We expect a lot from him and we need him to take responsibility," Pakistan coach Javed Miandad said of Youhana. "We weren't disappointed today and I hope his form can continue for the rest of the series."

The Pakistan innings had looked shaky early on when Yasir Hameed was well caught by Oram low down at backward point for two and Saleem Elahi got an edge to an Oram delivery and was caught by McCullum behind the stumps.

New Zealand looked ordinary in their innings until McCullum and Oram joined forces, and their fielding was poor, as a number of promising run-out opportunities went begging.

Fleming said New Zealand had scored 30 or 40 runs too few, but felt that 235 was a competitive score.

"The ball was difficult to get away early on and we kept losing wickets at regular intervals. We were grateful Jake [Oram] and Brendon [McCullum] had that partnership (91) because we got to 230-odd and we were back in the game.

"But the way Pakistan batted, we were well short of a suitable target."

The third match is in Christchurch on Saturday.

Scoreboard

New Zealand:
C.Cumming lbw Mohammad Sami 0
S.Fleming c Mohammad Sami b Shoaib Malik 43
H.Marshall c Yousuf Youhana b Shabbir Ahmed 10
S.Styris c Yousuf Youhana b Azhar Mahmood 10
C.McMillan c Moin Khan b Shoaib Malik 25
C.Cairns b Abdul Razzaq 9
J.Oram b Mohammad Sami 54
B.McCullum not out 56
D.Vettori b Mohammad Sami 9
D.Tuffey not out 3.

Extras: (lb-2, w-13, nb-1) 16

Total: (for eight wickets, 50 overs) 235

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-25, 3-53, 4-79, 5-104, 6-112, 7-203, 8-218.

Did not bat: I.Butler

Bowling: Mohammad Sami 10-0-52-3 (nb-1 w-7), Shabbir Ahmed 10-1-43-1 (w-4), Azhar Mahmood 10-0-69-1, Abdul Razzaq 10-1-24-1 (w-2), Shoaib Malik 10-0-45-2 (w-2).

Pakistan:
Yasir Hameed c Oram b Butler 2
Imran Farhat c McMillan b Vettori 87
Salim Elahi c McCullum b Oram 14
Yousuf Youhana not out 88
Inzamam-ul-Haq c McCullum b Tuffey 14
Shoaib Malik not out 9.

Extras: (lb-8, w-13, nb-1) 22

Total: (four wickets, 47 overs) 236

Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-52, 3-195, 4-224.

Bowling: Tuffey 10-3-28-1(w-2), Butler 10-0-49-1(w-5), Oram 9-0-37-1(w-2), Cairns 4-0-28-0(1-nb) , Styris 3-0-16-0(3-w), Vettori 10-0-58-1, McMillan 1-0-12-0.

Result: Pakistan won by six wickets to level the five match series 1-1.