McCullum stands by decision in first match

Dubai: Brendon McCullum, who captained the New Zealand team in the absence of an injured Daniel Vettori, does not feel that it was a wrong decision to put Pakistan into bat after winning the toss.

Pakistan piled up 161 for 8 and bowled out New Zealand for 112 in the first match of the Cool & Cool Cup Twenty20 match. "We looked at the statistics on this ground and also at the pitch and thought it might offer some assistance to the bowlers during the start. It did help us too but we just didn't execute as well as what we should've with our fourth and fifth bowler. I think 140 was probably a par score."

McCullum believes that Pakistan's total was not a difficult target. Then where did his team go wrong? "In Twenty20 you need a bit of luck," he said.