Pakistan 288 for 6 (Inzamam 68, Younis 56, Afridi 56, Styris 4-30) beat New Zealand 237 for 8 (Harris 54, McMillan 51, Waqar 3-43) by 51 runs
scorecard

Pakistan thrashed New Zealand by 51 runs to throw open the race for the finals of the three-nation Sharjah Cup.

Electing to bat in the day-night international, Pakistan unleashed their considerable batting might to pile up 288 for 6 from 50 overs before restricting New Zealand to 237 for 8.

Pakistan narrowly missed out a bonus point as the Kiwis passed the danger mark of 230 in the 49th over, having been 187 for 7 at one stage.

But the emphatic win meant that Pakistan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand ended the first round of the double-leg preliminary league with one victory each.

The second round begins on Friday with Sri Lanka taking on Pakistan. The top two teams will advance to the final of the event next Wednesday.

Inzamam-ul Haq and Younis Khan put on 105 for the fifth wicket, to build on an explosive start from Shahid Afridi and Imran Nazir, who smashed 98 off 86 balls for the first wicket.

New Zealand, already without six top players including Chris Cairns, suffered another blow when captain Stephen Fleming missed the match due to a finger injury sustained in the previous game.

Stand-in captain Craig McMillan lost the toss and then saw Afridi and Nazir give Pakistan a rousing start.

Afridi struck seven boundaries and three sixes in a whirlwind 56 off 53 balls, while Nazir contributed 47 off 46.

New Zealand's start was nowhere near as explosive, with Nathan Astle falling in the fifth over, caught by a diving Rashid Latif behind the stumps off Wasim Akram.

Pakistani captain Waqar Younis bowled Matthew Sinclair for 0 in the next over and when the dashing Chris Nevin fell for 40, the Kiwis were strugging at 65 for 3 in the 14th over.

McMillan and Chris Harris revived New Zealand's faint hopes by adding 112 for the fourth wicket, before Saqlain Mushtaq removed both batsmen in the space of three deliveries.

McMillan, who made 51, was bowled round his legs, while Harris holed out at deep square-leg for 54.

New Zealand, who had stunned Sri Lanka on Tuesday, failed to repeat that performance as Waqar finished with 3 for 43 and Shoaib Akhtar and Saqlain took two wickets each.

Earlier, New Zealand seamer Scott Styris caused a slump in the middle of the innings with a career-best 4 for 30, but Pakistan batted well to make the highest total of the tournament so far.

Styris, who came on third change as early as the 14th over, finally stopped the mayhem with two wickets in his first over.

Styris bowled Afridi as the batsman went for a wild heave and then had Abdul Razzaq caught behind two balls later.

Styris also had Nazir and Yousuf Youhana caught behind by Nevin as Pakistan slipped from 98 for 0 to 146 for 4 in the 26th over.

But Inzamam and Younis prevented further trouble with their century stand, before Wasim Akram smashed an unbeaten 28 off 16 balls to round things off in style.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd