The last series for New Zealand and Pakistan in one day cricket before World Cup is about to unfold. Both teams are in heap of troubles. The series is important not only for World Cup preparations but also each side needs winning touch in ODIs desperately.

New Zealand have not won an ODI since February last year and Pakistan have not won an ODI series in almost four years. Incentives are huge for both teams to crack at each other. The first of the six one dayers will be played at Wellington on Saturday.

New Zealand, after a brief spell of winning the T20 series are back to square one after the Test loss. New Zealand team were dominated in vast portions of the two Test series and were in fact lucky that the result was 1-0 to Pakistan and not a whitewash. New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has stepped down from Test captaincy and will step down from ODIs once the World Cup in February is concluded.

This is an indication that these are desperate times for New Zealand cricket. They need to pull themselves fast as they are running out of time. This ODI series provides the best opportunity as Pakistan have problems of their own making them very vulnerable. The limited over format is best suited to Kiwi's playing style, hence giving them a chance to impress. Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptil and Jesse Ryder have to show some signs of form and consistency in the game on January 22. James Franklyn and Daniel Vettori will be the key if top order falters. Bowling is a strong trait; Nathan McCullum, Vettori and Tim Southee are in reasonable form.

New Zealand have lost all five of their recent ODIs.

Pakistan have had skipper Shahid Afridi along with five others to join the squad for the ODI series. Pakistan were known to be a better ODI team than Test but recent performances against New Zealand and South Africa in Tests have shown otherwise. Nevertheless, fresh from a first Test series win in four years the team would be in high spirits. Form of key players like Misbah ul Haq, Younis Khan and Asad Shafiq will boost their batting at Wellington.

Pakistan bowlers do not favour New Zealand grounds, often complaining they are smaller. Shoaib Akhtar and Sohail Tanvir will join Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz and Tanvir Ahmed to form pace attack. Anything can happen in this series. No team wants to lose especially this close to World Cup. Pakistan can make a positive start en route to World Cup with a good show on Saturday.

Pakistan have won two of their last five ODIs.

Tag :- Daniel Vettori   New Zealand   Pakistan   Ross Taylor   Shahid Afridi   Shoaib Akhtar