Pakistan's final push

Pakistan strolled to a five-wicket win over New Zealand in their Mandela Trophy one-day international in Port Elizabeth yesterday, putting themselves well in contention for a place in the final.

After restricting the Kiwis to 201, the world champions comfortably reached the winning target, finishing on 206 for 5 with 22 balls to spare. Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail put on 51 for the first wicket. Sohail raced to 75 off 93 balls while their captain, Salim Malik, weighed in with 53 to see the Pakistanis home.

Earlier Martin Crowe with 83 and Adam Parore with 59 had the best scores for New Zealand. Pakistan now have six points from three wins and are second in the table behind South Africa, ahead of Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

MANDELA TROPHY (Port Elizabeth): New Zealand 201 (M D Crowe 83, A Parore 59; Waqar 4-34); Pakistan 206 for 5 (Aamir Sohail 75, Salim Mailk 53no). Pakistan won by five wickets.