Untidy cricket throughout the 40 overs, saw New Zealand deservedly beaten by Pakistan in the second and final Group D match, at the Twenty20 World Cup.

Sloppy in the field and a bit hard to fathom with the bat, the Black Caps eventually lost by 13 runs after making 164 for nine in reply to Pakistan's 177 for six.

New Zealand's chase was unusual before it even started, because of the personnel sent out to open.

Rob Nicol always seemed destined to partner Martin Guptill. But when the latter ruled out with a hamstring strain, another candidate had to be found.

It wasn't going to be James Franklin, despite him doing the job in the previous match. That had been a horses for courses call and so Kane Williamson was the bloke sent out with Nicol.

The pair made a fair fist of things, until Nicol was bowled by Shahid Afridi for 33. One run later it was 54 for two, after a bit of a mix up between Brendon McCullum and Williamson, resulted in the new opener being run out.

Daniel Vettori came out to bat at four, ahead of captain Ross Taylor. It was a curious decision and one that seemed like it might have a genuine impact on that outcome of the match.

Vettori never really get going, caught off Saeed Ajmal's bowling for 18, with the score 102 for two after 14.1 overs. Out to the middle strode Jacob Oram. Lord knows where Taylor was?

 The captain finally emerged six runs later, when McCullum somehow managed to kick an Umar Gul delivery back onto his stumps. He'd made 32 from 31 balls and, at 108 for four, New Zealand were dead.

Taylor has said that he will float between four and eight in the batting order, depending on the game situation. This one surely called for him to bat four, not six, and it was hard to escape the conclusion that the outcome could still have been different had Taylor come out to bat instead of Vettori, after his brief innings of 26 from 11 balls.

Earlier, it had been hard to know how to feel, after New Zealand's effort in the field.

At one it looked like they might concede 200, so restricted Pakistan to 177 for six represented a useful recovery. Equally, some of the bowling had been poor and the fielding even worse.

Mohammad Hafeez was dropped, with his and the team's score on nought, by Ross Taylor at slip off the bowling of Kyle Mills. He went on to make 43.

Nasir Jamshed who, it must be said, hit the ball beautifully, was the other player to get a life, when Nicol dropped him on the square leg fence. Mills was the unlucky bowler again.

There were also bobbles in the ground fielding and some overthrows, as the Black Caps skills let them down a touch.

Jamshed, in particular, did put them under a significant amount of pressure, at times. His 35-ball innings of 56, was terrific to watch, as the 22-year-old left-hander hit the Black Caps to all parts of Pallekele.

With Hafeez going usefully in support, it looked like Pakistan might post a truly formidable total.

Instead, once Franklin bowled Hafeez a further two wickets fell in the space of two overs. Nicol caught Kamran Akmal for three, off Jacob Oram, and then Jamshed hit a Vettori delivery down Nathan McCullum's throat at long on.

From 123 for one, with more than six overs remaining, Pakistan were now 134 for four. Umar Akmal (23 from 16) and Afridi (12 off 6) helped Pakistan post a still-respectable 177.

Vettori had bowled excellently, taking one for 23 from his four overs. Those figures were especially good given the first of the four had gone for eight.

Mills bowled without luck and Tim Southee was good again. Young Adam Milne, in for the injured Guptill, conceded 12 from his only over.

Scoreboard in the Group D match of the World Twenty20 between Pakistan and New Zealand at Pallekele International Stadium:

PAKISTAN

Mohammad Hafeez b Franklin 43
Imran Nazir c and b Southee 25
Nasir Jamshed c Nathan McCullum b Vettori 56
Kamran Akmal c Mills b Oram 3
Umar Akmal c Nathan McCullum b Oram 23
Shoaib Malik not out 9
Shahid Afridi c Williamson b Southee 12

Extras: (2lb, 4w) 6

TOTAL: (for 6 wickets) 177

Fall of wickets: 1-47, 2-123, 3-129, 4-134, 5-159, 6-177.

Bowling: Kyle Mills 4-0-35-0, Daniel Vettori 4-0-23-1, Tim Southee 4-0-31-2 (2w), Jacob Oram 4-0-44-2 (1w), Nathan McCullum 2-0-23-0, Adam Milne 1-0-12-0, James Franklin 1-0-7-0 (1w)

NEW ZEALAND

Rob Nicol b Afridi 33
Kane Williamson run out 15
Brendon McCullum b Gul 32
Daniel Vettori c Jamshed b Ajmal 18
Jacob Oram b Ajmal 11
Ross Taylor run out 26
James Franklin c Jamshed b Tanvir 13
Nathan McCullum c Malik b Ajmal 5
Tim Southee c Gul b Ajmal 1
Kyle Mills not out 0
Adam Milne not out 0

Extras: (5lb, 5w) 10

TOTAL: (for 9 wickets) 164

Fall of wickets: 1-53, 2-54, 3-102, 4-108, 5-122, 6-143, 7-157, 8-160, 9-164.

Bowling: Mohammad Hafeez 4-0-15-0, Sohail Tanvir 3-0-33-1 (1w), Umar Gul 4-0-39-1 (1w), Yasir Arafat 1-0-12-0 (1w), Shahid Afridi 4-0-30-1 (2w), Saeed Ajmal 4-0-30-4.

Result: Pakistan won by 13 runs.

- © Fairfax NZ News