Glenn Phillips reaches new milestone against Pakistan. Photo: Photosport
A late charge from Glenn Phillips helped the Black Caps to post a total that Pakistan could not chase down in the opening game of the one-day tri-series in Lahore.
New Zealand scored 330-6 and won the game, a Champions Trophy warm-up, by 78 runs.
Phillips scored his first ODI century at a rapid pace, picking up 98 runs from the last six overs of the New Zealand innings and scoring his last 77 runs in 32 balls.
"I've been chasing it for a couple of years now, and obviously batting at six it doesn't necessarily mean your opportunities to score a hundred are always there and it was always going to be a tough ask - everything had to line up on the right day for it to happen and thankfully today it did happen," Phillips said of his 72-ball unbeaten century.
Kane Williamson, playing in his first ODI since late 2023, scored 58 in an innings which included seven boundaries.
Daryl Mitchell cleared the rope four times in an innings of 81 as he took to Pakistan's spinners.
However, batting was not easy from the first ball on the wicket at the newly built Gaddafi stadium, Phillips said.
"I think it was a real 50-50 bounce on the block whether you managed to get it through the gaps or whether you found a fielder, and I think that was just an overall theme for every batter - that until you were on about 25 or 30 balls it was pretty hard to actually find any fluency, but after that mark it definitely became a bit more doable with finding gaps and finding boundaries."
During Pakistan's innings, Black Cap Rachin Ravindra was forced from the field with a head injury. Ravindra got a laceration to his forehead attempting to catch a ball in the 38th over, and received treatment at the ground.
Phillips said his teammate was alright.
"He's been conscious the whole time so that's fantastic - obviously it was a pretty terrifying moment, he lost the ball in the lights and unfortunately the ball won that situation this time."
Ravindra passed his first head injury assessment, and New Zealand Cricket said he would continue to be monitored ahead of their second game of the series against South Africa on Monday and the upcoming Champions Trophy.
For Pakistan, opening batter Fakhar Zaman laid the foundation, scoring 84 off 69 balls before Phillips had him trapped LBW.
However the rest of the order could only make starts and could not get close to the required total, when they were dismissed in the 48th over with Haris Rauf unavailable to bat.
Black Caps captain Mitch Santner's spin took three wickets, as did Matt Henry's pace.
