Pakistan leveled its five-match one-day cricket series with New Zealand when it won the second match Wednesday by six wickets in the South Island resort city of Queenstown.
Opener Imran Farhat scored 87 and shared a 143-run third-wicket partnership with Yousuf Youhana which allowed Pakistan to cruise past New Zealand's total of 235-8 in 47 overs.
Youhana was left 88 not out as Pakistan reached 236-4, posting its sixth win over New Zealand in seven matches. New Zealand broke a streak of five straight losses when it won the first match of the current series by four wickets in Auckland on Saturday.
Farhat and Youhana made the win appear effortless. They came together when Pakistan was 52-2 in the 14th over and were parted when it was 195, with 41 runs needed and 11 overs in hand.
New Zealand used seven bowlers but couldn't disrupt Pakistan's steady progress towards its winning target.
New Zealand's total, which required Pakistan to score at 4.7 runs per over for victory, was never enough to test the tourists on an flat, easy-paced pitch.
The failure of New Zealand's top-order, a regular feature of its recent one-day matches, left it again without a substantial total to defend. Only half centuries by Jacob Oram and Brendon McCullum, coming together when the specialist batsmen had failed, gave the New Zealand respectability.
"We didn't get key partnerships going and the scoreboard reflects it with a series of 20-run partnerships," said New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming.
"The pitch just held fractionally which made it hard work, but that aside we just lost wickets at key times.
"You've just got to see it through and make sure there are wickets in hand so guys like Brendon and Jacob can hit more freely."
Oram and McCullum shared a 91-run seventh-wicket partnership, scoring at a run per ball and restarting New Zealand's innings when it had stalled at 112-6.
The tall, left-handed Oram made 54 in 61 minutes, hitting five fours, to begin a minor and ultimately fruitless comeback. McCullum was unbeaten on 55 when New Zealand completed its 50 overs, batting first after Pakistan had won the toss.
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