Aggressive Ryder sparks New Zealand's surge

Jesse Ryder put behind his recent running woes and twitter travails to wade into Pakistan's attack and propel New Zealand to a formidable position by the 25-overs mark. The hosts' cause was helped by Pakistan's experimental approach, as an off-colour Sohail Tanvir was given an extended run to find rhythm. He did not, and Ryder found his footing against Sohail before pulverising the left-arm seamer with a breath-taking assault. Martin Guptill supported Ryder's effort, and the pair's 123-run stand put New Zealand in charge.

Ryder had been chastised earlier in the week for expressing his anger over Twitter following his run-out in a domestic game, but today he focused his fury on Pakistan's bowlers. Brendon McCullum's return to the top yielded only 12 runs, but his aggressive intent at the crease suggested New Zealand were not going to die wondering. Ryder's offensive epitomised New Zealand's approach, and highlighted exactly what they had lacked so far in the series, and in their listless run of recent games.

Pakistan's fast-bowling machinery has worked in perfect synchrony through the series, with the exception of Sohail. The trend continued today as he failed to hit the right lines or lengths. Ryder tuned in with a flick and a glance as Sohail drifted into his pads, to reignite the innings following Brendon's dismissal - under-edging Sohail in an attempt to launch him over long-off.

Sohail had gone at over six-an-over in his first four overs before Ryder spanked him out of the attack with three bombastic sixes in his fifth. Sohail over-pitched, Ryder went down on a knee to jab him beyond square-leg; he dropped short and Ryder pulled disdainfully over wide long-on. Sohail then attempted a slower ball on a length, and saw it being clubbed with carefree fluency down the ground.

Pakistan opted for the bowling Powerplay, and even tried Mohammad Hafeez's offspin with the restrictions on. Ryder responded with two inside-out drives, one along the ground and the other over wide long-off. Umar Gul was then dragged to the midwicket boundary as Ryder reached 50 off 34 balls. He acknowledged the milestone by cracking Gul through point and hooking him off-balance over the short boundary at fine-leg. No one was spared from the mayhem.

At the other end, Guptill found his release after a cautious start, with a couple of edgy boundaries off Shoaib Akhtar, who was not as pacy as in the previous game. Guptill fed Ryder with the strike more often than not, but expressed himself when presented with the opportunity. A pull shot off Shahid Afridi in the 16th over that sailed into the midwicket stands was the highlight of his innings.

With the field restrictions lifted, Afridi and Abdul Razzaq reined New Zealand in with a series of tight overs. Razzaq had been miserly with the new ball in the previous games, and repeated the dose in the middle overs today as both batsmen slowed down. From 108 for 1 in the 16th over, Pakistan could add only 33 in 9.3 overs before Guptill perished against Razzaq, trying to manufacture a boundary down the ground. Crucially, for New Zealand, Ryder was still out there.