Its a McCullum show

Brendon McCullum was in full form for Friday's 2nd day-nighter in Abu Dhabi, as he smashed a terrific 131 that took the Black Caps into a 64-run victory against Pakistan, also levelling the Cool & Cool Cup series so far. Supported by Martin Guptill's 62 and a partnership of 126 runs, McCullum took off to an explosive start , with even the other scores from his side being leagues behind. A performance that was a far cry from the one they put out in Tuesday's opening match, the Kiwis came back in full throttle for the 2nd ODI, posting an imposing 303/8, then calculatedly eliminating the Pakistani batsman off the pitch.

Chasing a daunting target, Pakistan got off to a solid start of 77 with Khalid Latif (45) and Salman Butt (59) setting the tempo. Even after Latif fell leg-before to New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori in the 17th over, Pakistan were well on course.

Butt and Younus (19) added another 47 for the second wicket before Scott Styris's 3/23 within two overs crumbled Pakistan's middle-order, finally bowling the lot out for 239. Styris's scalping of Shahid Afridi for a duck was a sort of poetic justice , since the Pakistani Vice-Captain himself took the wickets of Ross Taylor and Neil Broom, both for a duck too.

Resistance from Shoaib Malik (26) and Abdul Razzaq (35) came too little and too late for the Pakistani side that was already on the brink of defeat. The fate of this 3-match ODI series will be decided when the teams face-off on Monday (Nov 9), at the same venue again.