New Zealand topped the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League standings with a 79-run win over Pakistan in the second one-day international here on Wednesday.
New Zealand's victory moves them to the top of the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League with 140 points, passing both Pakistan (130) and India (139).
The Kiwis also recovered from a six-wicket defeat in the first ODI to tie the series 1-1. The series finale will now be played on Friday at Karachi's National Stadium.
Aside from the bragging rights of series victory, the decider has CWCSL implications. With a win, Pakistan could leapfrog India to second place in the Super League table, while New Zealand could extend their lead at the top, according to the ICC.
As a result of the defeat, Pakistan (108 rating) fell one spot in the ICC Men's ODI Team Rankings, falling to fifth, one point behind India (109) in the Asian rivalry. New Zealand, on the other hand, maintains their position atop the table with a rating of 115.
New Zealand batted first and posted a solid total of 261. They owed it to the second-wicket pair of Devon Conway and Kane Williamson, who put on a 181-run stand. Conway took on Pakistan's bowling attack on his way to his second ODI tonne (101) while Williamson (85) was content to play second fiddle.
Following that, the visitors succumbed to Mohammad Nawaz's sublime 4/34 spell. Mitchell Santner came back with a crucial 37-run knock to set Pakistan a target of 262.
In response, Pakistan's top scorer, Babar Azam, scored 79 but was far from his sublime best during his 114-ball stay at the crease. New Zealand's decision to play three spinners paid off as they kept the opposition on a leash.
With wickets falling consistently at regular intervals, the hosts failed to keep up with the scoring rate and eventually perished to the pressure of it.
Brief scores: New Zealand 261 in 49.5 overs (Devon Conway 101, Kane Williamson 85; Mohammad Nawaz 4-38, Naseem Shah 3-58) beat Pakistan 182 in 43 overs (Babar Azam 79, Mohammad Rizwan 28; Tim Southee 2-33, Ish Sodhi 2-38) by 79 runs.