Waqar unfazed by dismal start

Waqar Younis, Pakistan's coach, has said he's not worried by his side's miserable performance in their tour opener against Auckland, folding for 91 in a Twenty20 match which they lost by five wickets. Pakistan's brittle batting failed to last 20 overs at Colin Maiden Park in what was their only Twenty20 warm-up match of the tour, and Auckland chased down their target with more than six overs remaining.

"It wasn't the ideal start but that happens sometimes when you've just arrived in the country and you don't really know much about the pitch conditions," Waqar said. "I'm not really worried about it."

Pakistan's batting fragility has hurt them plenty of times this year, and it was no different against Auckland. "The batting had been undergoing a good deal of work but the batsmen failed to click in the game and no-one had taken responsibility to anchor the effort."

Pakistan's next match is the first of three Twenty20s against New Zealand, on Boxing Day. "I think they've learned the lesson and hopefully in the next game it will be a different ball game," Waqar said. "We have done badly today, and we have spoken about it. We have to work hard over the next couple of days so we don't repeat this type of performance."