DAMBULLA, Sri Lanka, 12 May 2003 — Shane Bond and Daryl Tuffey exposed Pakistani batting limitations against pace to set up New Zealand’s seven-wicket victory in a triangular one-day series match here yesterday.

Bond (2-7) and Tuffey (2-28) shared four early wickets in their sharp opening spells to send Pakistan crashing to 116 after New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming had put the opposition in after winning the toss.

The total was too small to put pressure on New Zealand, who romped home with more than 22 overs to spare. New Zealand were never tested as openers Chris Nevin hit a 29-ball 28 and Fleming 21, including a pulled six off paceman Mohammad Sami. Lou Vincent (25 not out) and Chris Cairns (18 not out) then completed the job.

A minor consolation for Pakistan was Shoaib Akhtar’s excellent performance with bat and ball. Akhtar topscored with an entertaining 27 with two sixes and bowled 10 testing overs, but without luck. He had a catch dropped off his bowling in the second over as Younis Khan reacted late to a Nevin edge at second slip. Pakistan, who beat Sri Lanka by 79 runs in the opening game on Saturday, were let down by their batsmen as they crashed to their lowest total against New Zealand in 65 one-dayers. Their previous lowest was 135 at Napier in 2001.

“It was not an easy pitch to bat on initially as it had moisture, but their fast bowlers did really well,” said Pakistani vice-captain Yousuf Youhana. Fleming too was not impressed with the pitch, saying his team had the advantage of bowling first on a damp surface.

The New Zealand win was shaped by the deadly duo of Bond and Tuffey, who grabbed four of the first five wickets to reduce Pakistan to 17-5 and the match to a no-contest. Bowling at a lively pace on a bouncy pitch, Bond and Tuffey reminded Pakistan that their new-look team was not equipped to deal with quality fast bowling.

Seamers Jacob Oram (2-16) and Scott Styris (2-32), and left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori also joined the party after Bond and Tuffey had wrecked the top order.

Australia Set W. Indies

418 to Win Last Test

In St. John’s, Matthew Hayden hit 177 and his fellow opener Justin Langer 111 as Australia set the West Indies 418 to win with two days remaining of the final Test after they were all out for 417 in their second innings yesterday. Hayden and Langer shared a partnership of 242 as Australia, 3-0 up in the series and trying to become the first team to whitewash West Indies in the Caribbean, threatened to build a huge lead after both teams scored 240 in their first innings. But the Australian wickets tumbled after Langer was caught at first slip by Brian Lara off Chris Gayle. Fast bowler Mervyn Dillon took four for 112 as he bowled Darren Lehmann for 14, had Andy Bichel caught by Devon Smith for a duck, Stuart MacGill caught by Lara also for a duck and Brett Lee caught by substitute fielder Sylverstor Joseph for 18. Hayden missed out on his second Test double century after a mix-up with captain Steve Waugh led to him being run out. West Indies will have to score their highest ever fourth innings total against Australia, who lead the series 3-0, to stop the visitors becoming the first side to achieve a clean-sweep in the Caribbean.