Abu Dhabi, Nov. 7: Brendon McCullum hit a return-to-form hundred and Scott Styris took three wickets in two overs as New Zealand beat Pakistan by 64 runs in the second day-night ODI here on Friday.

McCullum notched up 131 to help the Black Caps post a challenging 303/8 on a flat Abu Dhabi Stadium pitch before Styris (3/23) triggered a middle-order collapse which saw Pakistan bowled out for 239, leaving the three-match series level at 1-1.

Pakistan won the first match by 138 runs on Tuesday. The final match will be played here on Monday.

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 to achieve the target.

Butt and Younis Khan (19) added another 47 for the second wicket before Styris struck three times in ten balls to turn the match in his team's favour. Bowling for the first time in 13 months, Styris had Younis smartly caught at short mid-wicket by a diving Ross Taylor and then next ball induced Shahid Afridi (0) to play into the same fielder's hands.

In his next over, Styris had Kamran Akmal (four) caught at short cover before Butt was run out after being sent back by Mohammad Yousuf. Vettori then trapped Yousuf (18) to push Pakistan to the brink of defeat. Although Shoaib Malik (26) and Abdul Razzaq (35) resisted, it was too little too late for Pakistan against a professional New Zealand.

Earlier, New Zealand had McCullum to thank for repairing the innings through a second wicket stand of 126 with Martin Guptill (62).

Vettori praised his team's character. "We talked about some key things after the first match and came out and did them perfectly," said Vettori. - AFP