The Black Caps have won the first One Day International against Pakistan in Wellington, after rain bough the tourists' innings to an abrupt end at the Basin Reserve.
Batting first, New Zealand made 315/7, thanks to skipper Kane Williamson's 10th ODI hundred.
In response, Pakistan were in trouble straight away, with Tim Southee removing Azhar Ali and Babar Azam in the first over.
From there, Pakistan lost regular wickets, finding themselves 166/6 by the time the rain arrived, handing New Zealand the win.
6:44pm
That'll be the end of play. The umpires have come together to call the match off altogether. New Zealand win by 61 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method to go 1-0 up in the five match series.
6:20pm
The rain doesn't appear to be going anywhere anytime soon, with the bigger covers now on the pitch.
5:58pm
Play was scheduled to begin again at 6pm, however the rain has returned, we could be in for a long night folks.
5:35pm: 30.1 overs, PAK 166/6 - Zaman 82*, Ashraf 17*
Bad news now. The rain has set in and the covers are out on the ground. The Black Caps are more than comfortably in front on the Duckworth-Lewis calculation, meaning a win should play fail to resume.
5:19pm: 26.5 overs, PAK 132/6 - Zaman 67*, Ashraf 0*
WICKET! Boult comes back into the attack and gets the breakthrough! A short ball has Shadab Khan looking to pull, but there's no timing at all. The ball comfortably lobs to Latham behind the stumps. Khan goes for a gutsy 28, Faheem Ashraf the new batsman.
Rain is starting to fall at the Basin Reserve.
5:10pm: 25 overs, PAK 118/5 - Zaman 64*, Khan 18*
These two are starting accelerate, taking the attack to NZ. They've added 64 from 56 balls as their partnership. However, the required run rate is climbing, currently 7.92 per over.
4:51pm: 20.2 overs, PAK 88/5 - Zaman 50*, Khan 3*
Fifty for Fakhar Zaman! He pushes Santner down the ground for a single to bring up his milestone. Well batted with wickets falling around him.
4:47pm: 19 overs, PAK 81/5 - Zaman 45*, Khan 2*
Fakhar Zaman's had enough. He takes the attack to Santner, hitting back-to-back sixes down over long on. He's moved onto 45, and is single handedly holding this innings together at the moment.
4:37pm: 15.4 overs, PAK 54/5 - Zaman 22*, Khan 0*
WICKET! Astle comes into the attack and strikes straight away! He gets rid of Pakistan's captain with a flatter delivery that doesn't turn as much as Safraz expects, hitting him on the pad. The ball could be going down leg, but the umpire gives it out - and Pakistan have used up their review. Ahmed falls for eight, Shadab Khan the new batsman.
4:27pm: 14 overs, PAK 49/4 - Zaman 20*, Ahmed 4*
Lockie Ferguson has come into the attack and is bowling seriously quick. He's rushed one past Safraz Ahmed at 153kph, Tom Latham looks to be having an issue with his right hand behind the stumps. Hopefully he'll be alright to play on.
4:05pm: 8.4 overs, PAK 37/4 - Zaman 14*, Ahmed 0*
WICKET! Southee strikes again! A delivery that pitches on off and just moves away from Malik catches the edge of the bat through to Latham. Malik goes for 13. Captain Safraz Ahmed the new man to the crease - his side in all sorts of strife.
4:01pm: 8 overs, PAK 36/3 - Zaman 13*, Malik 13*
This pair are attempting to rebuild the innings after their early loss of wickets. They've put together a partnership of 23 runs from just 25 balls. Boult and Southee bowling well in tandem with one another.
3:43pm: 3.5 overs, PAK 13/3 - Zaman 4*, Malik 0*
WICKET! Boult joins in on the fun! A bouncer has Hafeez looking to hook, but he can only find Southee on the fine leg boundary! Pakistan lose their third as Hafeez goes for one, Shoaib Malik the new man.
3:35pm: 2 overs, PAK 12/2 - Zaman 4*, Hafeez 0*
Trent Boult to open up from the other end, Fakhar Zaman on strike. Second ball is pitched up and smacked for through through backward square leg. Boult responds with a bouncer that Zaman gets out of the way of. Five runs from Boult's first.
3:29pm: 0.5 overs, PAK 7/2 - Zaman 0*, Hafeez 0*
WICKET! Another one! Two in the first over for Southee! That's a harsh decision as Babar Azam is struck high on the pad first ball and the umpire gives it out. Golden duck for Babar Azam. Mohammad Hafeez the new man.
3:26pm: 0.4 overs, PAK 6/1 - Zaman 0*, Azam 0*
WICKET! Ali gets underway with a tuck off his pads for two. Southee overcompensates next ball, producing a half-volley on leg stump for four. Southee comes back again, and this time he's got Azhar! A fuller ball hits Azhar on the pads, and the umpire gives it out! Pakistan review but there's nothing wrong with that.
Southee sends Azhar Ali back for six. Babar Azam the new man.
3:23pm
We're back and ready for the second innings at the Basin. Tim Southee will open up with the ball. Azhar Ali on strike for Pakistan.
2:53pm: 50 overs, NZ 315/7 - Southee 12*, Astle 0*
Final over now, NZ with 306 on the board. Southee on strike, Amir to bowl. First ball is a wide yorker that Southee can't get bat on. Next ball is a single to bring Santner on strike. The left hander somehow digs out a yorker for four through cow corner! What a shot!
WICKET! Santner tries to clear the rope, but can only find Rumman out on the boundary. Southee on strike for the last ball, he walks across and somehow manages to flick it fine for four runs!
New Zealand finish on 315/7 from their 50 overs, a record score in ODI's at the Basin Reserve.
2:43pm: 48.1 overs, NZ 297/6 - Santner 2*, Southee 0*
WICKET! Nicholls falls after his fifty! He tries to scoop Hasan Ali back over the keeper, but attacks the wrong ball. He can only spoon a catch straight up to Safraz Ahmed behind the stumps. Nicholls goes for a round 50, Tim Southee the new batsman sent up the order.
2:40pm: 47.5 overs, NZ 295/5 - Nicholls 50*, Santner 0*
Fifty for Nicholls! He gets there with a clip off his pads into the leg side. His fourth ODI fifty, coming from just 42 balls.
2:38pm: 47.2 overs, NZ 288/5 - Nicholls 43*, Santner 0*
WICKET! Williamson falls after a brilliant hundred! He looks to hit Rumman Raees down the ground, but can only manage to skew it straight up in the air. Hasan Ali takes a difficult catch in the Wellington wind. The Basin Reserve rise to applaud Williamson, who departs for 115. Mitchell Santner the new man.
2:35pm: 47 overs, NZ 286/4 - Williamson 113*, Nicholls 43*
Nicholls taking the attack to Pakistan now! He scoops Hasan back over the keeper for four runs as the Black Caps look to accelerate. This pair's partnership has moved along to 88, three overs left.
2:24pm: 44.2 overs, NZ 265/4 - Williamson 103*, Nicholls 32*
Williamson on strike now on 99... and he gets to his hundred with a back cut for four! Century for Kane Williamson!!! His 10th in ODI cricket, coming from 106 balls.
2:13pm: 43 overs, NZ 252/4 - Williamson 95*, Nicholls 28*
Fifty partnership between these two! Nicholls is fortunate to get a boundary at fine leg - thanks to some shoddy fielding - to bring up the milestone. Williamson is just five runs away from another ODI hundred at the other end.
1:55pm: 39 overs, NZ 225/4 - Williamson 88*, Nicholls 11*
Williamson edging closer and closer to that century. He's not getting hungry for it though. Pakistan are trying multiple bowlers to try and snag him but he's not giving them anything after that earlier drop. Nicholls playing very well at the over end as well.
1:38pm: 34 overs, NZ 198/4 - Williamson 72*, Nicholls 0*
WICKET! Soft, soft dismissal for Latham. Lobbed it to midwicket for the easiest of catches. Tried to push a good length ball at middle stump to leg side but he's edged it instead. Not what the Black Caps needed. Out comes Nicholls.
1:29pm: 33 overs, NZ 192/3 - Williamson 70*, Latham 0*
WICKET! Taylor's gone and what a beauty of a ball from Hasan Ali! Good length outside off but angles in on Taylor and simply beats him with pace. Off stump is dislodged and Ali yells in delight - can't blame him. Out comes Latham.
1:25pm: 32 overs, NZ 191/2 - Williamson 69*, Taylor 12*
DRINKS! Taylor edges one to the slips but he's too deep and it drops short! Speaking of drops, how important is that early drop on Williamson looking now? The skipper is freeing himself up now and finding some good spots. Up to six 4s and still just the one 6. Taylor happy to play the support.
1:09pm: 29 overs, NZ 168/2 - Williamson 51*, Taylor 7*
FIFTY FOR WILLIAMSON! The skipper pushes one down wide long-on for a single and it gives him the milestone. Very well played innings so far, nothing flashy, just the usual Stedy-the-Ship standard. He's got three 4s and a 6 to his name so far. Will look to have a big one from here.
12:57pm: 26.3 overs, NZ 155/2 - Williamson 46*, Taylor 0*
WICKET! Guptill's gone! After finding his groove and slogging some quality boundaries in the last two overs, the opener is gone for a tame dismissal and you can see it all over his face. Wide ball that he had no business going for but he pursues it regardless, slaps an easy catch to backward point. Timely strike for Pakistan with the duo looking solid. Guptill foes for 48.
12:49pm: 24 overs, NZ 133/1 - Guptill 36*, Williamson 36*
FIFTY PARTNERSHIP! Williamson and Guptill bring up 50 together with an explosive 11-run over. Williamson knocks a four over the top of mid on which races away before Guptill wraps up the over with a shot pit tje back through fine leg.
12:40pm: 22 overs, NZ 119/1 - Guptill 31*, Williamson 27*
DROPPED! Williamson survives an outside edge to the keeper. Looks like Sarfraz was going to his left and didn't expect the outside edge. He attempts to dive back to his right with a one-handed grab but it comes off the right glove. Big moment there and the skipper knows it. Got to take those against a guy like Williamson.
12:21pm: 17 overs, NZ 100/1 - Guptill 26*, Williamson 13*
There's the hundred for the team! Williamson is settling in nicely and has a four to his scorecard already. Guptill still playing very slow, very controlled. Not opening up like he usually does.
11:59am: 12.3 overs, NZ 83/1 - Guptill 22*, Williamson 0*
WICKET! NO! Munro goes after a wild start to the over. Two balls after his fifty he's edged this through to the keeper. Ali's ball is a good length outside off and Munro pokes at it. Esy outside edge. In comes the skipper. Fine burst from Munro though.
11:57am: 12.2 overs, NZ 83/0 - Guptill 22*, Munro 58*
FIFTY FOR MUNRO! He's got another one! What a way to bring it up! Slogs the ball deep to fine leg. Follows it up with a four.
11:48am: 10 overs, NZ 62/0 - Guptil 15*, Munro 44*
FIFTY PARTNERSHIP! Munro is on fire! Finishes the over with two fours and SIX and it's suddenly got him edging close to a fifty of his own. Guptill playing a very smart innings here. Took a lot of the early pressure, allowing Munro to keep his fine form going now.
11:39am: 8 overs, NZ 39/0 - Guptill 15*, Munro 22*
Big appeal from Pakistan as there's a sound with the ball carrying past Guptill to the keeper. It didn't sound wooden but it won't even matter. Umpire takes his time but finally rules it a wide. Sarfraz isn't impressed. Raees follows up with another wide.
11:22am: 5 overs, NZ 22/0 - Guptill 11*, Munro 11*
Brief pause in the game as the bails are changed! Wind is blowing these ones off the stumps so the whizzy ones have to go. They're putting some older ones in but these aren't the right size so it appears we will resort to no bails for the match. Can't remember the last time we've seen that. Classic Wellywood for you.
11:16am: 4 overs, NZ 22/0 - Guptill 11*, Munro 11*
Guptill and Munro getting lose now and stepping up to the challenge! Munro takes the first boundary of the game with four between cover and point. Guptill responds the following over with a SIX straight down the middle of the field and it smokes the sightscreen! Beautifully timed.
11:07am: 2 overs, NZ 6/0 - Guptill 3*, Munro 3*
Amir gets things going with a maiden. But the Black Caps find a couple gaps off Raees in their second over. The bowling already has been far more dangerous than what they've seen so far this summer. Raees has some great swing going and Amir is really pressuring the batsmen. Boundaries could be a lot harder to come by today than the last few weeks.
11:00am: 0 overs, NZ 0/0 - Guptill 0*, Munro 0*
Anthems are out the way, weather's looking a stunner and Guptill and Munro are at the crease! Mohammad Amir will do the honours for this strong Pakistan bowling unit. Lets get this show on the road!
10:40am: TEAMS
NZL: Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Todd Astle, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult
PAK: Azhar Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Rumman Raees
10:35am: WEATHER
Winds are sitting around 50km/h at the moment. Classic Wellington southerly. Showers are forecast but she's a blue sky overhead at the Basin at the moment so fingers crossed the wild weather is well and truly gone.
10:30am: TOSS
Pakistan have won the toss and elected to field.
PRE-MATCH
Pace man Tim Southee says the Black Caps bowling attack will need to be at their best when they tackle Pakistan in the first one-day international at the Basin Reserve in Wellington today.
The Kiwis are coming off a dominant performance against the West Indies, winning across all three formats and concluding with an impressive 119-run win in the third T20 on Wednesday.
But Southee says that while it was pleasing to complete such a strong start to the summer, the Black Caps face a new set of challenges against Champions Trophy winners Pakistan.
Chief among those will be containing a low-profile but nonetheless impressive batting line up.
"In batting, they're probably not as destructive as the West Indies, but they're very capable of batting for a long time and hurting poor bowling," Southee said.
"They don't have the big names but they've got great records to back it up."
He pointed to players like Babar Azam, the 23-year-old right-hander who has averaged 58.60 and made seven hundreds across the 36 ODIs he's played.
Azhar Ali is another danger man, the experienced 32-year-old batsman returns to replace Ahmed Shehzad at the top of the order, and Fakhar Zaman, who has an average of 44.4 and nine wins from the nine ODIs he's played.
Southee was hopeful Fakhar's inexperience in New Zealand conditions might give the Black Caps an edge in the five-match ODI series, as well as the three Twenty20 games.
"He's obviously an exciting player who likes to get on with it. Hopefully we can change that record he's got," Southee said.
"It's a great start to his international career, but he's never toured New Zealand, so there are a few challenges for him to adapt to different conditions."
Southee says Pakistan also have a quality bowling attack, who have proven effect in different conditions around the world.
Led by Hassan Ali, ranked No.1 in the ICC's ODI bowler rankings, the Pakistan bowling attack demands respect, he added.
"We know we're going to have to be on top of our game."
SHARE ME