Pakistan defeated New Zealand by 62 runs at the Racecourse Ground in Derby to guarantee their place in the second round of the cricket World Cup.

Andy Smith: "It's going to take a very good team to beat Pakistan"

Having set the Kiwis 270 to win, Pakistan restricted the opposition to 207 for eight, with fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar doing the early damage taking two wickets in his first three overs.

Nathan Astle and Matt Horne both departed after being behind to leave their side struggling at 12 for two.

The New Zealanders were not helped later by the dismissal of Chris Cairns and Adam Parore off consecutive balls from Azhmar Mahmood with the score on 70.

Captain Stephen Fleming, who made 69, and Chris Harris with 42 managed to give the New Zealand score a measure of respectability.

Pakistan, with four wins out of four, have their last game against Bangladesh on Monday and will finish top of Group B, with New Zealand left to contend with Australia and West Indies for the second and third positions.

The Pakistan innings was once again dominated by Inzamam-ul Haq once, who also starred during the crucial victory over Australia.

The hefty right-hander scored 73 not out as New Zealand suffered some heavy damage during the final overs, with the opposition finishing on 269 for eight.

The Kiwis were thankful to the controlled and economical bowling of Gavin Larsen and Dion Nash who conceded less than four runs an over, but left-arm pace bowler Geoff Allott, who picked up four wickets, went for 64 runs.

Saeed Anwar and Shahid Afridi opened the innings and immediately went to work, taking 12 runs off the first over bowled by Nash.

With the score at 40, Afridi edged Allott to the Parore.

Anwar followed just 11 runs later, bowled around his legs by Allott.

Abdul Razzaq helped Ijaz Ahmed carry the score from 51 to 127 for two before running himself out in the 29th over.

That wicket saw the introduction of Inzamam, and once again he managed to involve himself in a run-out - that of Ijaz, who had reached 51.

Salim Malik, coming into the side for the injured Yousuf Youhanna, struggled to make eight before falling to an Allott yorker.

Moin Khan added a quickfire 41 for the sixth wicket with Inzamam.

A brief flurry of wickets threatened to unhinge the Pakistan innings, with Moin, Wasim Akram and Azhar all falling.

But 14 runs from the final over took Wasim's men once step closer to winning Group B outright

- Group B: New Zealand v Pakistan
28 May 99 at Derby

Pakistan beat New Zealand by 62 runs Scorecard correct at 17:35 GMT 18:35 UK

New Zealand 207 for 8 (50overs)
Pakistan 269 for 8 (50overs) , overs completed

New Zealand innings

Batsman			Runs	Balls	4s	6s
MJ Horne	c Moin Khan	b Shoaib Akhtar	1	20	-	-
NJ Astle	c Moin Khan	b Shoaib Akhtar	0	6	-	-
CD McMillan	c Salim Malik	b Wasim Akram	20	25	3	-
SP Fleming	c Wasim Akram	b Azhar Mahmood	69	100	4	-
RG Twose	c Inzamam-ul-Haq	b Saqlain Mushtaq	13	24	-	1
CL Cairns	lbw	b Azhar Mahmood	0	4	-	-
AC Parore	lbw	b Azhar Mahmood	0	1	-	-
CZ Harris	c Abdul Razzaq	b Saqlain Mushtaq	42	94	-	-
DJ Nash		not out	21	32	-	-
GR Larsen		not out	3	4	-	-
Extras	0b 15lb 13w 10nb		38
TOTAL:	8 wkts, 50 overs		207

Fall of wickets: 1-2 (2 Astle, 8 mins), 2-12 (10 Horne, 15 mins), 3-34 (22 McMillan, 27 mins), 4-69 (35 Twose, 33 mins), 5-70 (1 Cairns, 3 mins), 6-70 (0 Parore, - mins), 7-152 (82 Fleming, 79 mins), 8-200 (48 Harris, 29 mins)
Still to bat: G I Allott

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Wasim Akram	9	0	27	1
Shoaib Akhtar	7	1	31	2
Azhar Mahmood	10	0	38	3
Saqlain Mushtaq	10	1	34	2
Shahid Afridi	6	1	26	0
Abdul Razzaq	8	0	36	0

Pakistan innings

Batsman			Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Saeed Anwar		b Allott	28	25	4	-
Shahid Afridi	c Parore	b Allott	17	22	2	1
Abdul Razzaq		run out	33	82	4	-
Ijaz Ahmed		run out	51	68	1	-
Inzamam-ul-Haq		not out	73	61	7	-
Salim Malik		b Allott	8	9	1	-
Moin Khan	c McMillan	b Astle	19	17	3	-
Wasim Akram	lbw	b Cairns	1	7	-	-
Azhar Mahmood	c Twose	b Allott	14	12	2	-
Saqlain Mushtaq		not out	0	-	-	-
Extras	4b 10lb 8w 3nb		25
TOTAL:	8 wkts, 50 overs		269

Fall of wickets: 1-40 (40 Shahid Afridi, 25 mins), 2-51 (11 Saeed Anwar, 18 mins), 3-127 (76 Abdul Razzaq, 78 mins), 4-163 (36 Ijaz Ahmed, 29 mins), 5-180 (17 Salim Malik, 9 mins), 6-221 (41 Moin Khan, 18 mins), 7-226 (5 Wasim Akram, 6 mins), 8-255 (29 Azhar Mahmood, 13 mins) Did not bat: Shoaib Akhtar

Bowler	O	M	R	W
D J Nash	10	1	36	0
G I Allott	10	0	64	4
G R Larsen	10	0	35	0
C L Cairns	7	0	46	1
C Z Harris	8	0	47	0
N J Astle	5	0	27	1

New Zealand won the toss and decided to field

Umpires: K T Francis, R E Koertzen

New Zealand
M J Horne , N J Astle , C D McMillan , S P Fleming (capt) , R G Twose , C L Cairns , A C Parore (wkt) , C Z Harris , D J Nash , G R Larsen , G I Allott ,

Pakistan
Saeed Anwar , Shahid Afridi , Abdul Razzaq , Ijaz Ahmed , Inzamam-ul-Haq , Salim Malik , Moin Khan , Azhar Mahmood , Wasim Akram , Saqlain Mushtaq , Shoaib Akhtar ,