With 25 overs to go, and plenty of batting to come, there was every likelihood of Pakistan making a fist of it, especially with some big hitters to come. They've always had what it takes to win games chasing; it's only that they've more often than not lost games while batting second which gives them this unflattering reputation of crumbling under pressure.

This time round though they had recovered from the twin loss early on sufficiently by the 25th over to raise hopes of taking an unassailable lead in this three game limited-overs series.

Younis Khan scored his third score of 50-plus and had already partnered Pakistan's recovery in two stands, the first of 73 with Afridi (40, 37 deliveries, 4 fours, 1 six) and then another one with Abdul Razzaq, unconquered with half the overs to go.

First it was the pair of Afridi and Younis that affected the recovery with a stand of 73 after two very early wickets. Afridi played a mature little knock, mixing aggression and sensible defence, but as is his wont, overdid the aggression bit in trying to sweep Scott Styris once too often to get himself leg before.

From then on it was Younis and Razzaq, promoted in the batting order, who held the fort by rotating the strike skillfully and playing attacking strokes in equal measure to stay abreast of the asking rate. The two between them had set the stage for a final assault on the target.

All the more remarkable because they achieved it in the absence of their leading batsman, with Nathan Astle out because of a knee injury. But Craig McMillan, the man who started the slide with an injudicious shot against Akhtar at Karachi, rose to the occasion, with an outstanding innings. In the process, he posted his second limited-overs hundred, and his career's best, 105 off just 116 deliveries with the help of 8 fours and 1 six, imperiously hooking Shoaib Akhtar over deep square leg fence.

And more importantly, McMillan held the Black Caps innings together, staying till the very fag end, getting out with only four deliveries remaining. And in two major partnerships with Mathew Horne and Jacob Oram, worth 96 and 92 runs respectively, he put his team in a commanding position.

The Black Caps nemesis, Shoaib Akhtar, remained wicketless this afternoon.

After having consolidated the innings in association with Horne in the middle overs, McMillan and Andre Adams, promoted in the batting order by an ailing skipper Stephen Fleming, took the fight to Pakistan bowlers in an eye-catching stand for the third wicket. Adams made his intentions clear from the word go, by cutting Afridi to point for four and then driving Akhtar to midwicket for another boundary.

McMillan at this point posted his individual 50 (70 balls, 4 fours) and cut loose immediately, by hooking Akhtar's leg-side bouncer over square leg fence. From the other end, Adams punched Saqlain to the cover boundary and followed it up with a ferocious drive off Akram to long-on fence. Such was the sway McMillan and Adams held that the fourth 50 was raised, to take the Kiwis to 200, off a mere 38 balls.

Waqar made some desperate bowling changes, bringing on one wicket-taking bowler after another, but to no avail. He took himself off to bring on Akhtar, and Adams drove him to mid-wicket fence, and McMillan took two fours off Razzaq next over.

Finally, Akram, in his third spell, delivered Adams' wicket. Bowling round the wicket, he got through Adams' (45 off 45 balls, 6 fours) defences to rattle middle and leg stump. But 232 for three, in the 44th over the damage had already been done as with plenty of wickets in hand, the Kiwis seemed well set to a big total.

Waqar got Oram and McMillan in the 48th and 50th overs, but not before McMillan had posted a magnificent hundred.

Pretty good going indeed.
And in the meanwhile they had weathered Shoaib Akhtar's pace as well, keeping him wicketless in his first five-over spell. Some achievement this, after the mauling they had received at his hands the other day.

Skipper Waqar tried all six of his bowlers, and with a second wicket not forthcoming, and run rate steadily improving as Horne and McMillan shed their inhibitions after getting well set, he brought back Wasim Akram. And in the second over of this second spell, he had Horne plumb in front.

The stand for the second wicket by then had contributed 78 runs, and what is more, though they survived some anxious moments against Shoaib and Saqlain, Horne and McMillan ensured that there was no dramatic collapse. Once they settled down, in the process bringing up the 100, off 131 balls, they started playing their strokes. Horne got to his 50 in the 25th over, off 79 deliveries, with five fours. McMillan reverse swept Afridi to third man, and Horne essayed a similar stroke against Saqlain, with similar result. Horne latched on to Akram, pasting him to the long-on fence and McMillan sent Afridi past long leg.

Akram had Horne in the 30th over, but by then the total was 140 for 2. With wickets intact, the Black Caps seemed on their way to a decent total. And given Pakistan's propensity to panic when faced with anything competitive while chasing, this promised to have the makings of a good contest.

Akram had cause to be aggrieved when Nevin edged him on a slower delivery in his third over, the ball falling inches short of a diving Rashid Latif. To add insult to injury, the ball ran down to the fine third man fence.

Akram, having conceded 22 runs in his first spell of four overs, was taken off early and Abdul Razzaq was introduced in his place. Nevin impudently lofted him over extra cover for a four. The very next delivery, Razzaq bowled him neck and crop with a peach of a delivery that cut back to knock off Nevin's (23 runs, 26 balls, 3 fours) off and middle stump.

The fall of a wicket slowed down the scoring, bringing it to a crawl, but Black Caps having posted 50, off 70 deliveries in 11.4 overs, Mathew Horne went after Waqar, lofted him past the deep long-on fence. Razzaq was accuracy personified, but Waqar brought Shoaib Akhtar on in his place to a great roar from a near capacity crowd at the Rawalpindi Stadium.

Craig McMillan clipped Akhtar, who had earlier said that he wanted to break the 100-mile barrier in this game, to the fine leg fence when he strayed to leg. McMillan was nearly run out next ball when he tried to steal a sharp single; well out of the crease McMillan was lucky Saqlain's throw didn't hit the stumps. Later in the over, Horne had no clue when the ball raced past him, inches outside the off stump.

By the end of the first 15 overs, the Black Caps had not lost any more wickets and put 63 runs on the board for the loss of Nevin. Not a bad start on this very good pitch, but had Astle been around, they may have done better.

Astle, who was only recently named Player of the Year by New Zealand, was to return home after suffering from a tear in the patella tendon of his left knee. This indeed is a serious blow to the Kiwis, and is likely to dampen their spirits further on the eve of the second one-dayer at Rawalpindi. The Kiwis, torn apart by Shoaib Akhtar's searing pace at Karachi, would be looking to put their best foot forward later on Wednesday afternoon. The relatively cooler atmosphere might help, but Akhtar, in his home town after which he was named 'Rawalpindi Express' was promising further trial by fire. He told a national daily on the eve of the match that he would go for the 100-mph landmark in front of his home crowd, possibly in the third and fourth overs of his first spell. It remains to be seen whether it was just a psychological ploy to batter the Kiwis mentally or he really intends going after this much-cherished record.

Even without Akhtar sending his lethal projectiles, the Black Caps would need all the luck to turn the tables on a charged up Pakistan. Holding their nerve and forcing their sinew is the challenge. Whether they pick up the gauntlet or capitulate once more would be known by later in the evening. The toss has been won by New Zealand and they will be batting.

Todays teams are:
New Zealand: *Stephen Fleming (captain), Andre Adams, Matt Horne, Craig McMillan, Jacob Oram, Scott Styris, Daryl Tuffey, Lou Vincent, Brooke Walker, +Robbie Hart, Chris Nevin, 12th man James Franklin.

Pakistan: Shahid Afridi, Imran Nazir, Yousuf Youhana, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Abdul Razzaq, +Rashid Latif, Wasim Akram, *Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq, Shoaib Akhtar.