Wellington: New Zealand's Mitchell McClenaghan is to undergo surgery for a fractured eye socket after suffering a nasty blow to the face in Monday's one-day International victory against Pakistan.

An express delivery from Anwar Ali smashed through the grille of McClenaghan's helmet and hit him on the left eye on the penultimate ball of the New Zealand innings in Wellington.

The tailender was left injured on the ground for a few seconds before getting up to cheers from the crowd and making his way off the field with blood and bruising around the eye.

The ball ricocheted off the underside of the peak of his helmet and smashed into his eye before becoming lodged inside the grille.

He was taken to hospital for the wound to be stitched and later tweeted he had suffered "a few broken bones".

Slow-motion replays showed the ball had hit him with considerable force. As McClenaghan immediately fell to the ground, the umpires, the Pakistan players and non-striker Matt Henry moved towards him.

He eventually rose to his feet to cheers from the crowd, after attention from the team physio. The area around his eye was swollen as he walked off the field.

He did not bowl in Pakistan's innings, spending most of it in hospital instead.

A team spokesman said doctors had confirmed a slight fracture to the eye socket and McClenaghan would undergo "minor surgery" in Auckland on Friday.

McClenaghan retired hurt on 31 after featuring in a 73-run stand in 33 balls with Matt Henry for the ninth wicket to help New Zealand reach to 280 for eight.

Pakistan in reply were all out for 210.

"Thanks for all the concerns. Everything is as good as it can be just a few broken bones. Great win for the boys!" McClenaghan tweeted with a picture showing heavy bruising around his left eye.

It rules him out of the second ODI in Napier, and puts him in doubt for the final match on Sunday, as he is scheduled to undergo minor cosmetic surgery on Friday.

His innings of 31 off 18 balls played a big part in getting the Black Caps out of trouble after Pakistan sent them into bat.

The home team was reeling at 99 for 6 before crucial knocks from Henry Nicholls (82), Mitchell Santner (48), Matt Henry (48 not out) and McClenaghan helped them through to 280 for 8.

In McClenaghan's absence, Grant Elliott, who may not have expected to bowl all his overs in normal circumstances, made the initial breakthroughs, to finish with figures of 3 for 43 from his full quota.

McClenaghan is the fourth New Zealand player to be unavailable for Thursday's game, with Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum and Tim Southee also out through injury. (REUTERS)