Black Caps folied by Pakistan

New Zealand came up seven runs short as Pakistan claimed a Twenty20 series victory in Dubai.

Umar Akmal's 56 off 49 balls, his best haul to date at international level in the 20-over format, proved crucial for Pakistan who sealed a 2-0 series success.

Scott Styris gave the Black Caps a glimmer of hope with 43 off 33 balls but they were unable to pull off the required last-over heroics as they posted 146 for five.
Akmal helped Pakistan to a respectable 153 for five batting at three, a tally featuring five fours and a six.

His supporting cast were less impressive, however, as Black Caps bowler Ian Butler, who took no wickets for 42 runs from his three overs in the first clash of the sides at the same venue yesterday, claimed three victims this time around to give his side hope.

Butler overcame the indignity of a wide and then being hit for six by Imran Nazir in his first over by removing the opener for 19 after he tried to play his shot too early and was skittled.

He took his second wicket in the seventh over as Kamran Akmal was trapped lbw for 26.
Shahid Afridi added 22 to the Pakistan total off 17 balls before he was caught at deep midwicket by Shane Bond off the bowling of Nathan McCullum.

Butler's third wicket came in the 15th over as Shoaib Malik skied a shot to Styris running in from deep extra cover and Abdul Razzaq was out for a first-ball duck to James Franklin.

Umar Akmal was the man who kept the scoreboard ticking over with Fawad Alam contributing a very handy 17 off 13, including a six off Butler in the penultimate over.

It took until the fourth over for Pakistan to make their first breakthrough as Bradley-John Watling fell for seven to Sohail Tanvir edging to Kamran Akmal, but Brendon McCullum - who finished with 47 off 41 balls at the top of the order - kept New Zealand competitive.

However, it was his dismissal in the penultimate over by Saeed Ajmal which effectively ended any hope of a surprise recovery.

Martin Guptill became the first of two victims for Umar Gul for 17, who skittled him before claiming the wicket of Styris with the last ball of the match, caught by Malik.

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Black Caps on the road at 2011 World Cup

New Zealand will be a well-travelled side through the pool stage of the 2011 cricket World Cup hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Six pool games against Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe Canada and Kenya will be played at five different venues although they only venture outside India once.

That match will be against Pakistan at Pallekele in Sri Lanka on March 8.

They open their campaign against Kenya in Chennai on February 20, followed by four-time champions Australian in Nagpur on February 25 and Zimbabwe in Ahmedabad on March 4.

The pool phase ends with two games in Mumbai, against Canada on March 13 and Sri Lanka on March 18.

The top four teams from the seven-team pool will advance to straight quarterfinals, starting on March 23.

The final will be played at the renovated Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 2.

In all, 13 venues will be used in the 43-day tournament.

India is hosting 29 of the tournament's 49 matches.

Pakistan was stripped of hosting rights over security concerns. They will play all their group matches in Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh and India play the first match of the tournament in Dhaka on February 19, two days after the opening ceremony in the same city.

NZ's 2011 World Cup fixtures
v Kenya, Feb. 20 at Nagpur, India
v Australia, Feb. 25 at Nagpur, India
v Zimbabwe, March 4 at Ahmedabad, India
v Pakistan, March 8 at Pallekele, Sri Lanka
v Canada, March 13 at Mumbai, India
v Sri Lanka, March 18 at Mumbai, India

Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal 1
March 23 at Dhaka, Bangladesh

Quarterfinal 2
March 24 at Colombo, Sri Lanka

Quarterfinal 3
March 25 at Dhaka, Bangladesh

Quarterfinal 4
March 26 at Ahmedabad, India

Semifinals

Semifinal 1
March 29 at Colombo, Sri Lanka

Semifinal 2
March 30 at Mohali, India

Final
April 2 at Mumbai, India

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Styris tells senior Black Caps to step up

Veteran New Zealand cricket allrounder Scott Styris is expecting the Black Caps' senior players to step up and take the load off skipper and acting coach Daniel Vettori.

New Zealand have arrived in Dubai to prepare for their three-match one-day cricket series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi next week without a coach, following Andy Moles' resignation last week.

Moles walked away after an internal review of the team's performance revealed senior players were unhappy with their progress under the English coach.

Vettori has consequently added coaching duties to his list of responsibilities, and Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam has sniffed a potential weakness.

Alam told the cricinfo website today that Vettori faced an enormous job both coaching and captaining New Zealand.

He said New Zealand "could find the going tough without a coach".

"From where I see it, it is very important for an international cricket team to have a full-time coach," he said.

"It could be tough for him (Vettori). I mean, the whole idea of having a coach is to ensure that the captain is spared from any headaches and can focus on leading his players on the field in the best possible manner."

Vettori can manage

But Styris had no doubt that, with the support of senior players, Vettori could manage his roles as captain, coach and leading allrounder.

"The only possible perceived weakness is that Dan's performance could drop because of this," Styris said.

"The only way we can help Dan out is to make sure those senior players, those guys that have been around a while, pick up some of the slack and start putting in big efforts."

Styris, who was called into the team following injuries to Jesse Ryder, Grant Elliott and Daryl Tuffey, said it was important that effort came across the board.

"It needs to be three or four players at once, not just one or two. If we can do that, I'm sure Dan's workload will be a little bit more relaxed and he can make sure he's doing his job - performing on the field, that's his main priority."

Not overly burdened

Vettori himself said he didn't feel overly burdened.

"I don't feel like I have to pick up any slack in terms of coaching the side or anything like that, but it's about coming over here and getting the job done," he said.

Vettori said his team were doing their best to focus on the three one-day matches in Abu Dhabi followed by two Twenty20 internationals in Dubai the following week.

"If anything it's exciting to get out of New Zealand, get away from the scrutiny for a little bit, and come here and do what we do best," Vettori said.

"It's difficult from the perspective of having to front it all, I suppose, as captain and a selector as well. It means the focus has been on me for the explanation, so coming here takes a bit of heat off that."

Filling the void as coach adds to the responsibilities for Vettori, who is a key contributor with both bat and ball.

Still in the New Zealand camp are assistant coaches, Mark O'Donnell and Shane Jurgensen, while manager Dave Currie has an enhanced role in the team set-up.

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