With New Zealand impressing against Sri Lanka in their long series, it will now be the turn of Pakistan to try and topple the home team when the two sides clash in the 1st ODI on Saturday.
New Zealand took the seven-match series against Sri Lanka comfortably, even if they lost the last game a couple of days back.
With confidence high and their players looking pretty good, New Zealand will target a victory in both of the two one-day international matches to be played in Wellington and Napier.
New Zealand showed they have a pretty formidable bowling unit, especially with their effective pacers, but their batting, even if there might have been a few blips, also came to the fore more often than not against Sri Lanka.
"The good thing in terms of batting is that all of the batsmen have got a score to their name, and other people have picked up the slack, so we're pretty happy with where everyone is sitting," said NZ batting coach Craig McMillan.
"It's just foot on the throat, continuing to win, winning breeds confidence."
The last time the two teams met it was in the UAE where very little was there to separate the two sides, but New Zealand will know they hold the home advantage this time around after showing some rip-roaring form against Sri Lanka, they will head into the matches as the clear favourites.
Pakistan have perhaps not had the greatest of preparations for the World Cup, what with them having only these two competitive matches to get attuned to the conditions.
They will, of course, be without Saeed Ajmal for the World Cup, while Junaid Khan's availability remains in doubt after the fast bowler was ruled out of the New Zealand series due to a thigh injury picked up in training.
For New Zealand, Adam Milne remains a doubt, but Pakistan will know the Kiwis have plenty of other quality bowlers up their sleeve, and it will be up to the batsmen to stand up to the test to ensure the game does not run away from them.
Where to Watch Live
The 1st ODI match is scheduled for a 2 pm local time (6.30 am IST, 1 am GMT) start with no live coverage on TV in India. Viewers in Pakistan can catch the action live on Ten Sports and PTV Sports with the live streaming options available on Ten Sports live and PTV Sports live.
Viewers in New Zealand can catch the match live on Sky Sport or live stream on Sky Go NZ. Watch the match live in the UK on Sky Sports 2 or via live streaming online on Sky Go.
Audience in the US can catch the game on Willow TV while the match can also be live streamed on Willow TV Online. Viewers in Australia can catch the match on Fox Sports while the game can also be watched online via live streaming on Fox Sports Live.
Audience in the Middle East and North Africa can watch the action live on OSN Sports or via a live stream on OSN Play. South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa viewers will be able to catch the game live on SuperSport or SuperSport online.
