How Taylor destroyed Pakistan

With his unbeaten 131, Ross Taylor became only the fourth batsman to score a century on his birthday, and his innings was second only to Sachin Tendulkar's 134 among those four hundreds. That, though, is unlikely to be the stat that would have most pleased him and New Zealand's think-tank. Far more important was the manner in which Taylor finally shrugged off a poor run and played the sort of innings which will, hopefully, inspire New Zealand onto greater things through the rest of the tournament.

In the two-year period beginning March 2009, Taylor had averaged 28.86 before his innings today. His highest in 39 innings had been 95, and his last ODI century had come 48 innings ago.

That lack of form was evident in the way Taylor started his innings - that he went beyond seven deliveries was only because of the extreme generosity (incompetence?) from Kamran Akmal. Even after that, Taylor continued to struggle, scoring only 27 off his first 50 deliveries. Off his next 58, his strike rate improved, but he still managed only one four, which meant after 108 balls, Taylor was on 69. In his last 16 deliveries, though, Taylor was completely unrecognisable from the batsman who had struggled so much early in innings. In those 16 balls, he struck seven sixes and four fours, as New Zealand scored an astonishing 114 runs in their last six overs.

Over the course of his frenetic innings, Taylor and New Zealand knocked up several records. Here are some of the key ones:

• Taylor's unbeaten 131 is the highest by a New Zealand batsman in an ODI against Pakistan. It equals Brendon McCullum's effort in Abu Dhabi in 2009.

The break-up of his runs against each bowler also shows how uneven his innings was. Against the magnificent Umar Gul, Taylor did little damage, while Mohammad Hafeez kept his quiet too. Razzaq and Shoaib, though, went at more than two runs per ball.

The result also means New Zealand have at last ended their losing streak in World Cup games against Pakistan - they'd lost six in a row before today's game. The margin of defeat is Pakistan's second-worst in a World Cup game, and it was only the late resistance by Razzaq that prevented this from becoming their worst loss.

The four teams that will progress from group A are pretty much decided, but with this result the battle for top spot in the group suddenly becomes much more interesting.