Kiwis struggle against Waqar

Pakistan 189-9 New Zealand 169 Pakistan win by 20 runs

Pakistan 189-9 New Zealand 169 Pakistan win by 20 runs

Pakistan won the opening one-day international of their New Zealand tour by 20 runs in a low-scoring match at Dunedin yesterday.

Batting first after winning the toss, Pakistan struggled to 189 for 9 on a slow-paced pitch, but the Kiwis also struggled and were bowled out for 169 in the 48th over.

New Zealand's chase got off to a bad start, with the openers Craig Spearman and Nathan Astle, departing inside the first five overs.

Spearman was superbly caught by a diving Ijaz Ahmed at backward point and Astle gave Wasim Akram a sharp return catch. Waqar Younis then cut through the middle order, taking three wickets in nine balls.

Roger Twose, the former Warwickshire batsman, and Nottinghamshire's all- rounder Chris Cairns added 42 for the sixth wicket before Cairns and Lee Germon fell to consecutive Mushtaq Ahmed deliveries.

New Zealand seemed down and out at 114 for 8 before Twose and Gavin Larsen put on a spirited 50.

Twose, dropped by the wicketkeeper Rashid Latif before scoring, worked the ball around the ground in his 93-ball innings but after Larsen was caught in the gully for 23 Twose's innings ended when he dragged a ball from Wasim on to his stumps to finish the match.

It was a poor response to Pakistan's less than challenging score. Only two Pakistani batsmen got to 30, with opener Ramiz Raja top-scoring with a painstaking 35, and Inzmam-ul-Haq hitting 32.

The wickets were spread among the New Zealand bowlers and Adam Parore chipped in with two impressive pieces of fielding to run out Basit Ali and Wasim with direct hits from point.

The second match in the series is at Christchurch tomorrow.