Ice-cool waters, lush green plains, overcast skies: New Zealand is serenity's darling, isn't it?

To attribute the same calmness to its cricket side, would be naivety at its undiluted best, given the team's recent 2-0 annihilation of Sri Lanka and its 2-1 rout of Pakistan.

But has Pakistan always been this ordinary in the shortest format? Certainly not.

New Zealand's all-round belligerence with the bat, and efficacy with the new ball, took the sheen off Pakistan's 16-run victory in the first T20 of the three-match series and whatever Shahid Afridi's side did right was quickly forgotten in the ensuing mayhem.

Smeared bowling figures and a vulnerable top-order has made it imperative on Pakistan's part, to replace ambition with method, and take note of the factors behind their rival's clinical 2-1 finish. The Blackcaps were Pakistan's favourite 'whipping boys' once. Their transformation has been sensational.

Top-order partnerships played a key role in propelling New Zealand toward big scores, especially during the last two games.

Kane Williamson's back-to-back boundaries off Imad Wasim in the second game lent strength to Martin Guptill's middle-over assault, butchering the likes of Mohammad Amir and Afridi for nine fours and four titanic sixes. The resulting 171-run partnership was the highest opening stand in T20 history.

Even Corey Anderson's 82 from 42 balls in the third game would have failed to lift New Zealand to 196/5, had it not been for Guptill and Williamson's shared stand of 57 at the top. Their effort, however moderate, prevented quick pressure from reaching the Kiwi middle-order, giving Anderson the perfect platform to blast at a whooping strike-rate of 195!

Pakistan on the other end, never really got going with their early partnerships. The side's belief that individual heroics would eventually compensate for partnerships has been a misleading one. Apart from Mohammad Hafeez's single-handed 61 off 47 balls in the opening game, the team's top three managed just 75 runs in all three of their outings.

Consequently, lapses at the top forced the middle-order muscle to first build a proper platform for themselves, instead of taking off from one. Shoaib Malik's fighting contributions of twenties and thirties, along with a destructive 56 not out by Umar Akmal in Hamilton, powered Pakistan beyond to 171 and 168 in the first two games.

The over-dependence on the middle-order finally backfired in Christchurch, where the visitors folded for just 101, leaving a world of questions unanswered.

Furthermore, Pakistan's bowling attack may have boasted more experience than New Zealand's, but effectiveness had the better of experience during this series. Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner kept it plain and simple by bowling stump-to-stump, allowing the Pakistani batsmen little room upfront to free their arms and step up the run-rate.

This enabled Kiwi speedster Adam Milne to bang the new-ball outside off at an average speed of 142 km/h, forcing the batsmen to play away from their bodies.

Milne's acute understanding of Pakistan's weaknesses earned him wickets both up and down the order — eight in total — including crucial death-over scalps of Umar Akmal and Afridi.

In contrast, Pakistan made the grave mistake of utilising its frontline seamers for the same, futile purpose of short-pitch bowling. Wahab Riaz conceded 56 runs on the leg side alone, in hope of getting the batsmenin a tangle. What the pacer did not realise, or even the skipper for that matter, was that the Kiwis were raised to hammer the short ball.

All five of the colossal sixes Wahab Riaz incurred in the series were muscled over the leg-side alone, miles into the stands! His pace counterpart Mohammad Amir, gave away 100 runs in the series of his own accord.

60% of the runs scored off Amir were from deliveries drifting down the leg-side, including a plethora of misdirected yorkers. Why bowl it there if you are uncertain, champ?

Even though Afridi's leg-spin generated plenty of skid on seamer-friendly decks, his occasional freebie on the pads served as an overcompensation for all the dots in a given over. The veteran's wicket-less spell of 38 runs in the second game, coupled with Imad Wasim's 42 in the last one, remain firm reminders of how consistency escaped the capable duo, completely.

Now, for the visitors to have some luck against the Kiwis in the ODI format, they need to develop a temperament for top-order partnerships. There is an equal need for Pakistani seamers to do what do best: attack.

New Zealand's has provided Pakistan with the blueprint for success. That, and the nation's unpredictability in both formats of the sport, keeps them a force on this tour, in-spite the heavy 2-1 defeat.