BLACKCAPS 369-5 (Williamson 112, Taylor 102*, Guptill 76) beat Pakistan 250 all out in 43.1 overs (Mohammed Hafeez 86, Dan Vettori 1-41, Trent Boult 1-35) by 119 runs at McLean Park, Napier.
Centuries to Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor, playing his 150th ODI, backed up by 76 from Martin Guptill, led the BLACKCAPS to a monumental 369-5 in the first innings. In reply Pakistan got off to a strong start, but the pressure of the run-rate and persistence of the home side’s bowlers extinguished their hopes after 43.1 overs, bowled out for 250.
In the second innings, the Pakistan opening pair of Mohammad Hafeez (86) and Ahmed Shehzad (55) made a good first of it initially, putting on 111 for the first wicket.
However, scoreboard pressure was always the elephant in the room for Pakistan. Nathan McCullum made the breakthrough in the 21st over, getting Shehzad to sky the ball to Milne at long on when he was on 55 - he was followed four overs later by danger man Younis Kahn, picking out Tim Southee at long on for just 11.
Dan Vettori picked up his first ODI wicket since 2011 when he tempted Shahid Afridi to hit high to Grant Elliott - eerily, his previous ODI wicket was also Afridi, lbw this time, in Napier.
Adam Milne chipped in with two quick wickets, getting Umark Akmal to play on with a 148kph delivery, then Haris Sohail caught by Brendon McCullum for six.
From there, the result became inevitable, with Elliott, Tim Southee and Trent Boult mopping up the tail to hand the win by 119 runs to the BLACKCAPS, along with the ANZ ODI Series win 2-0.
Earlier, the first big win of the day was when Brendon McCullum had a rare success with the coin. He quickly opted to bat and it didn’t take long to see why.
The skipper ensured his side were on the front foot early on, pushing the run-rate up to around six, before chopping on against Shahid Afridi for 31.
That brought Williamson to the crease and he and Martin Guptill put the BLACKCAPS in full control.
The duo amassed 128 for the second wicket, accumulating steadily and without risk. Guptill was watchful early on in his innings, but began to grow in confidence and after 65 balls brought up his half-century.
He continued to flourish, but was visibly disappointed when undone by a full-toss, finding the man at long-off and departing for 76.
Nonetheless, it left the BLACKCAPS 171-2 in the 28th over and with a solid platform to build a sizable total. Williamson took the reins and displayed his full array of shots enroute to his sixth ODI century.
His immaculate footwork against the spinners had Pakistan in all sorts of trouble and after just 80 balls the 24-year-old raised his bat to a standing ovation.
Taylor carried on where Williamson had finished, plundering the Pakistan attack and quickly seeing the BLACKCAPS past 300. While his first 50 runs took 49 balls, his next would take just 21 deliveries.
His spectacular effort was capped in the final over, making the required 12 runs to reach his 12th ODI century. It brought to a close a stunning effort from the BLACKCAPS, who boasted a great total to defend heading into the second innings.
