Pakistan favourites against unsettled hosts

Big Picture

Pakistan are in a pleasantly unfamiliar position, that of beginning a series as the favourites. In their last two one-day series, they managed to stretch far stronger opponents than New Zealand - England and South Africa - to the limit, while also dealing with an unending list of controversies on the side. This time, however, they have almost no distractions; the delay in the naming of the World Cup captain is almost a non-issue for a side that is used to anarchy. They have also managed to put the spot-fixing hearings out of their mind and, instead of making a big deal about the delay in the verdict, they have shown signs of moving on.

Misbah-ul-Haq deserves some of the credit for the newfound stability. Critics questioned the side's approach when their batsmen played for a draw in the final session of the Wellington Test, led by Misbah at his obdurate best. But the fact of the matter is that Pakistan sides of earlier vintage would invariably have gone after the target, only to collapse in a heap and concede the series lead. Pakistan can do with a dose of such calmness in the one-dayers too, yet Shahid Afridi's return to the helm of affairs will offer a counterpoint. The interplay between the two men - Misbah has been named vice-captain of the ODI side - promises to form an interesting sub-plot to this series, and the results could decide who will eventually lead Pakistan in the World Cup.

New Zealand have far bigger questions to address before they can think of the big event. They haven't won an ODI in 11 successive attempts, and John Wright knows only a radical change in approach and team combination can pull his side out of the rut. With batting in the middle overs being a major source of worry, Wright has already decided to change things around - Brendon McCullum will take guard at No. 6, breaking his successful association with Jesse Ryder at the top. Jacob Oram returns to the side, while James Franklin promises stability, so New Zealand have the pedigree to turn the corner. Will they kick the losing habit in Wellington?

Players to watch out for …

New Zealand saw Abdul Razzaq at his menacing best in the third Twenty20, which preceded the Tests. In November last year, he smashed the South Africa attack in Abu Dhabi in one of the most stunning one-day innings of all-time. Razzaq's methods may not work too often, but when they do, they turn games in a matter of minutes. His smart assortment of legcutters and slower balls could also pose New Zealand problems on wickets that have tended to be slow and spongy in recent times.

Brendon McCullum is being sent down to No. 6, specifically to take advantage of the batting Powerplay. He has only played six of his 152 ODI innings at that position, though he has had reasonable success at Nos. 7 and 8. Like Razzaq, McCullum is an impact player, but he will go up against some of the smartest end-overs practitioners in the game, namely Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal and the irrepressible Shoaib Akhtar.

Team news

New Zealand have announced their XI, giving seamer Hamish Bennett a game and benching Jamie How. Martin Guptill will open the innings alongside Jesse Ryder, while McCullum will resume duty behind the stumps.

New Zealand: 1 Jesse Ryder, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Ross Taylor, 4 Scott Styris, 5 James Franklin, 6 Brendon McCullum (wk), 7 Jacob Oram, 8 Daniel Vettori (capt), 9 Nathan McCullum, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Hamish Bennett

Pakistan are yet to finalise the XI, but have announced that Kamran Akmal will be opening their innings. If Wahab Riaz continues to suffer from the flu that curtailed his participation in the second Test, Sohail Tanvir could get a chance.

Pakistan (probable): 1 Kamran Akmal (wk), 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq, 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Shahid Afridi (capt), 7 Abdul Razzaq, 8 Umar Gul, 9 Abdur Rehman / Saeed Ajmal, 10 Wahab Riaz / Sohail Tanvir, 11 Shoaib Akhtar

Stats and trivia

• Pakistan have a 48-32 win-loss record in ODIs against New Zealand. In New Zealand, though, it drops to 12-20
• Younis Khan has played 207 ODIs, without getting a game in New Zealand. Afridi has only played three in the country, while Razzaq leads the way for the current team, with 10 outings here

Quotes

"My bowling's gone really well, I've been extremely happy with the way the ball has come out. The runs haven't been flowing but I don't feel far away."

Jacob Oram is confident of making an impact on his return to the national side

Australia put into bat as both teams make changes

Andrew Strauss opted to put Australia into bat at Hobart after heavy morning rain cleared to leave a bright and breezy afternoon. England made two straight swaps to their team with Matt Prior, recalled to the World Cup squad two days ago, replacing Steve Davies and James Tredwell coming in for the injured Graeme Swann.

Australia have made three changes with a number of injury and illness issues still hanging over the team. Shaun Marsh replaces Mike Hussey who has a serious hamstring injury, Shaun Tait returns in place of the ill Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Hauritz, Australia's frontline spinner for the World Cup, gets Xavier Doherty's place.

As in Melbourne, Australia have a pace attack that could prove expensive so the onus will be on Hauritz and Shane Watson to provide control with the ball during the evening. The hosts lead the series 1-0 after Watson's stunning, unbeaten 161 in the opening match at the MCG but it was a contest that left plenty of room for improvement for both sides.

Australia 1 Shane Watson, 2 Brad Haddin (wk), Michael Clarke (capt), 4 Cameron White, 5 David Hussey, 6 Shaun Marsh, 7 Steve Smith, 8 Nathan Hauritz, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Doug Bollinger, 11 Shaun Tait.

England 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Matt Prior (wk), 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ian Bell, 6 Eoin Morgan, 7 Michael Yardy, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 James Tredwell,10 Ajmal Shahzad, 11 Chris Tremlett.

Talisman Vettori steps down from captaincy

Daniel Vettori confirmed he would be stepping down from the captaincy after the World Cup, making the second Test at the Basin Reserve his last at the helm. Vettori has captained the side in 32 Tests since he took over from Stephen Fleming in 2007, and sits third on the list of most Tests captained for New Zealand, behind Fleming (80) and John Reid (34).

Vettori said that the plan had always been to step down after the World Cup and that nothing had occurred to convince him to extend his tenure as skipper. "I made that decision three and a half years ago," Vettori said. "So that's it. My timing was always to finish after the World Cup and that stays the same."

Vettori's stint has been a disappointing one for New Zealand, as his captaincy coincided with a significant dip in form for the Test team. Under him, New Zealand have won only six Tests in three years, with four of those wins coming against Bangladesh. They have lost eighteen Tests and drawn thirteen, with nine series losses out of thirteen.

Throughout his captaincy, Vettori has been New Zealand's most consistent performer with the ball, taking 116 wickets at an average of 33.38, ahead of Chris Martin's 93 scalps at 35.08. He has also been routinely called upon to provide stability to New Zealand's batting from the lower order. He's hit four centuries and nine fifties as captain and his aggregate since taking over - 1917 runs - stands behind only Ross Taylor's and Brendon McCullum's during the same period. For much of his captaincy, Vettori has been New Zealand's talisman. A tireless workhorse with the ball, and a courageous fighter with bat in hand.

"There are always regrets, you always want to perform better," Vettori said. "But I can walk away from the captaincy thinking that I gave it everything, particularly with my performance."

The captaincy hasn't been entirely joyless though for Vettori as he singled out victories that brought him satisfaction during his tenure as leader. "The Test win against England and the Test win against Pakistan last year were highlights. Just seeing a group of young guys come into the team [has also been a highlight]. It's a vastly different outfit from the one I started captaining and I think there are some really talented players there."

Vettori also sees a bright future ahead as long as New Zealand's young squad can capitalise on their talent, but claims the team lacks genuine strike power. "If we can get the most out of the likes Taylor, Ryder, McCullum, Guptill and Williamson in the years to come, I think there's an exciting team there. We still need to find fast bowlers coming in. You always want to find guys who can penetrate, so if they come along, that would be great."

Despite stepping down from the captaincy, Vettori confirmed he would continue to play Test cricket and has no plans for retirement as yet. "Test cricket is the part of the game I love. I want to play for as long as I can. There are still a lot of things I want to achieve, so there's no way I'm stepping away from Test cricket."

He will captain the side in the upcoming one-day series against Pakistan, before leading the team to the World Cup. "We've got six one-dayers and then the big World Cup, so there's still a lot of captaincy to come. So that last game-hopefully the World Cup final, that's when the weight [of the captaincy] will be lifted."

Misbah, Younis set up drawn match and series win

Pakistan weathered a hostile opening spell that reduced them to 42 for 3 in the first hour, worked their way to safety in the second session, and made a half-hearted attempt to win the Test before settling for a draw that gave them the series 1-0. It was theirfirst series victory outside the subcontinent since the triumph in New Zealand in 2003-04, and their first anywhere since 2006-07. It was another impressive result for a team that has managed to hold its own on the field - with Test wins against England and Australia, and a drawn series against South Africa - despite facing a mountain of problems off it.

• • Test no. 1991 | 2010/11 season
  • Played at Basin Reserve, Wellington
  • 15,16,17,18,19 January 2011 (5-day match)

  	New Zealand 1st innings		R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
  	MJ Guptill	c †Adnan Akmal b Tanvir Ahmed	29	143	97	5	0	29.89
  	BB McCullum	lbw b Umar Gul	2	4	3	0	0	66.66
  	KS Williamson	c †Adnan Akmal b Umar Gul	21	53	34	2	0	61.76
  	LRPL Taylor	c †Adnan Akmal b Wahab Riaz	78	251	168	6	1	46.42
  	JD Ryder	c †Adnan Akmal b Tanvir Ahmed	0	2	1	0	0	0.00
  	JEC Franklin	c †Adnan Akmal b Abdur Rehman	33	130	97	5	0	34.02
  	RA Young†	c †Adnan Akmal b Tanvir Ahmed	57	221	162	6	0	35.18
  	DL Vettori*	c Misbah-ul-Haq b Abdur Rehman	110	248	166	10	1	66.26
  	TG Southee	c Misbah-ul-Haq b Umar Gul	1	13	9	0	0	11.11
  	BJ Arnel	lbw b Umar Gul	1	14	12	0	0	8.33
  	CS Martin	not out	4	30	16	1	0	25.00
  	Extras	(b 7, lb 1, w 10, nb 2)	20
  	Total	(all out; 127.1 overs; 559 mins)	356	(2.79 runs per over)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	Umar Gul	32	3	87	4	2.71	(1w)
	Tanvir Ahmed	25	5	93	3	3.72	(1nb, 2w)
	Younis Khan	1	0	9	0	9.00
	Wahab Riaz	16	3	46	1	2.87	(3w)
	Abdur Rehman	45.1	11	96	2	2.12	(1nb)
	Mohammad Hafeez	8	0	17	0	2.12

Fall of wickets1-3 (McCullum, 0.6 ov), 2-46 (Williamson, 12.1 ov), 3-98 (Guptill, 32.5 ov), 4-98 (Ryder, 32.6 ov),5-166 (Franklin, 63.6 ov), 6-180 (Taylor, 71.1 ov), 7-318 (Young, 114.3 ov) 8-322 (Southee, 116.6 ov),9-338 (Arnel, 120.3 ov), 10-356 (Vettori, 127.1 ov)

	Pakistan 1st innings		R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
	Taufeeq Umar	c Guptill b Vettori	70	200	143	12	0	48.95
	Mohammad Hafeez	c †Young b Southee	1	7	8	0	0	12.50
	Azhar Ali	c Taylor b Martin	67	210	169	7	1	39.64
	Younis Khan	c Ryder b Vettori	73	238	161	10	0	45.34
	Misbah-ul-Haq*	lbw b Martin	99	310	207	16	0	47.82
	Asad Shafiq	c Taylor b Vettori	0	7	5	0	0	0.00
	Adnan Akmal†	c Martin b Vettori	22	32	34	3	0	64.70
	Abdur Rehman	c McCullum b Martin	5	19	13	1	0	38.46
	Umar Gul	c McCullum b Martin	19	38	26	4	0	73.07
	Tanvir Ahmed	c Taylor b Southee	7	26	19	0	0	36.84
	Wahab Riaz	not out	7	17	14	1	0	50.00
	Extras	(b 1, lb 2, w 2, nb 1)	6
	Total	(all out; 133 overs; 556 mins)	376	(2.82 runs per over)

Fall of wickets1-2 (Mohammad Hafeez, 1.5 ov), 2-134 (Taufeeq Umar, 49.5 ov), 3-144 (Azhar Ali, 54.4 ov),4-286 (Younis Khan, 105.6 ov), 5-294 (Asad Shafiq, 107.5 ov), 6-324 (Adnan Akmal, 115.5 ov),7-333 (Abdur Rehman, 120.2 ov), 8-360 (Misbah-ul-Haq, 126.3 ov), 9-363 (Umar Gul, 128.2 ov),10-376 (Tanvir Ahmed, 132.6 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	CS Martin	32	7	91	4	2.84	(1nb, 2w)
	TG Southee	28	7	102	2	3.64
	BJ Arnel	16	4	50	0	3.12
	JEC Franklin	9	1	30	0	3.33
	DL Vettori	47	11	100	4	2.12
	MJ Guptill	1	1	0	0	0.00

	New Zealand 2nd innings		R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
	MJ Guptill	lbw b Abdur Rehman	73	246	178	9	1	41.01
	BB McCullum	c Tanvir Ahmed b Abdur Rehman	64	167	111	6	1	57.65
	KS Williamson	c †Adnan Akmal b Tanvir Ahmed	15	73	43	2	0	34.88
	LRPL Taylor	lbw b Umar Gul	52	135	101	4	1	51.48
	JD Ryder	b Mohammad Hafeez	17	29	25	2	1	68.00
	JEC Franklin	c Younis Khan b Mohammad Hafeez	6	16	12	1	0	50.00
	RA Young†	c Azhar Ali b Abdur Rehman	20	79	57	1	0	35.08
	DL Vettori*	b Umar Gul	1	13	5	0	0	20.00
	TG Southee	not out	22	25	21	1	2	104.76
	BJ Arnel	lbw b Umar Gul	0	1	1	0	0	0.00
	CS Martin	c †Adnan Akmal b Umar Gul	1	13	4	0	0	25.00
	Extras	(b 2, lb 6, w 1, nb 13)	22
	Total	(all out; 90.5 overs; 403 mins)	293	(3.22 runs per over)

Fall of wickets1-120 (McCullum, 35.3 ov), 2-166 (Williamson, 52.4 ov), 3-166 (Guptill, 53.3 ov), 4-192 (Ryder, 61.1 ov),5-208 (Franklin, 65.6 ov), 6-268 (Young, 85.3 ov), 7-268 (Taylor, 86.1 ov), 8-275 (Vettori, 88.1 ov), 9-275 (Arnel, 88.2 ov),10-293 (Martin, 90.5 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	Umar Gul	20.5	4	61	4	2.92	(4nb, 1w)
	Tanvir Ahmed	10	0	36	1	3.60	(3nb)
	Abdur Rehman	39	6	119	3	3.05
	Wahab Riaz	8	1	38	0	4.75	(6nb)
	Mohammad Hafeez	13	3	31	2	2.38

	Pakistan 2nd innings (target: 274 runs)		R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
	Mohammad Hafeez	c Taylor b Martin	32	61	46	5	0	69.56
	Taufeeq Umar	lbw b Southee	0	6	1	0	0	0.00
	Azhar Ali	lbw b Martin	10	41	22	1	0	45.45
	Younis Khan	c †Young b Southee	81	191	155	10	0	52.25
	Misbah-ul-Haq*	not out	70	312	226	7	0	30.97
	Asad Shafiq	lbw b Vettori	24	101	85	4	1	28.23
	Adnan Akmal	not out	2	32	17	0	0	11.76
	Extras	(lb 6, nb 1)	7
	Total	(5 wickets; 92 overs; 374 mins)	226	(2.45 runs per over)

Did not bat Abdur Rehman, Umar Gul, Tanvir Ahmed, Wahab Riaz

Fall of wickets1-4 (Taufeeq Umar, 1.1 ov), 2-35 (Azhar Ali, 10.1 ov), 3-42 (Mohammad Hafeez, 12.6 ov),4-160 (Younis Khan, 57.4 ov), 5-215 (Asad Shafiq, 83.2 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	CS Martin	24	6	63	2	2.62
	TG Southee	15	2	49	2	3.26
	DL Vettori	34	13	57	1	1.67	(1nb)
	BJ Arnel	9	5	17	0	1.88
	JEC Franklin	5	1	6	0	1.20
	MJ Guptill	3	0	16	0	5.33
	JD Ryder	2	0	12	0	6.00

Match details

Toss New Zealand, who chose to bat Series Pakistan won the 2-match series 1-0

Player of the match Misbah-ul-Haq (Pakistan)

Umpires DJ Harper (Australia) and RJ Tucker (Australia) TV umpire CB Gaffaney Match referee RS Mahanama (Sri Lanka) Reserve umpire PD Jones

Close of play 15 Jan day 1 - New Zealand 1st innings 246/6 (RA Young 28*, DL Vettori 38*, 90 ov) 16 Jan day 2 - Pakistan 1st innings 134/2 (Azhar Ali 62*, 49.5 ov) 17 Jan day 3 - New Zealand 2nd innings 9/0 (MJ Guptill 1*, BB McCullum 6*, 5 ov) 18 Jan day 4 - New Zealand 2nd innings 293 19 Jan day 5 - Pakistan 2nd innings 226/5 (92 ov) - end of match