Under a magnifying glass due to a variety of reasons, Afridi was unable to rise to the occasion as his team was bowled out for a paltry 124 before the Black Caps wrapped up a nine-wicket triumph, their first in 12 ODI appearances.

Afridi came to the crease after Pakistan had lost their top five batters for just 57 and it was anticipated that the flamboyant all-rounder will rebuild the innings with his vice-captain Misbah-ul-Haq — standing at the other end.

But he could add just 31 more to the total before becoming one of Tim Southee's five victims. Afridi scored 15 off 29 balls.

Defending a meager total, Pakistan were unable to provide any resistance to the hosts who cruised to victory in just 17.2 overs.

The loss could add to Afridi's problems as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) continues to mull over the option of installing Misbah as the country's captain for World Cup 2011, which begins from Feb. 19.

Misbah has emerged as a candidate for Pakistan captaincy after leading the team to its first Test series triumph in four years earlier this month. The senior batsman is in great form and has hit fifties in his last six Test innings. He also struck a half-century in Saturday's one-dayer against New Zealand.

Just a few months back, Afridi told Arab News that it is his greatest desire to lead Pakistan to World Cup glory.

But it could be a case of so near yet to so far for the all-rounder.

Till a couple of weeks back, he seemed set to get World Cup captaincy but things have changed now.

Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, is in New Zealand and is monitoring Afridi's performance first hand. Butt is expected to name Pakistan's World Cup captain soon.

According to well-placed sources, Afridi will have to lead Pakistan from the front in the up coming ODIs against the Black Caps to retain captaincy for the World Cup. Th six-game ODI series ends on Feb. 5 just two weeks before the World Cup opens in Dhaka.

Afridi, 30, is confident that he and his team can do it. "We'll definitely step up in the next game," he said referring to the second one-dayer to be played in Queenstown on January 26.

Afridi rued the fact that Pakistan lost too many wickets a bit too early after electing to bat in the day-night encounter.

"We lost too many early wickets. The ball was swinging and seaming a lot... Misbah played a very responsible innings. (Sohail) Tanvir is coming back after a long time. Shoaib (Akhtar) was struggling a bit.

But we have good bench strength there."

Meanwhile, New Zealand were celebrating a morale-boosting triumph. "It was a good win for us after a long time," said Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand captain.

"Tim Southee produced some great swing. We knew he's a bowler who can bowl really well always, and he put it all together in this series so far." The young Southee, who finished with a career-best 5-33, welcomed the arrival of Allan Donald, the former South African Test pacer, as New Zealand's bowling consultant.

"The ball was swinging around, and I was lucky to pick up the wickets while the others did a good job. Good to have Allan Donald around," said the pacer.