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The winners of the Cricket World Cup in 1992, the last time the tournament was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia, Pakistan are nevertheless somewhat unfamiliar with recent southern hemisphere conditions, having played their past 25 of 28 ODIs in Asia – dating back to October 2013.

On the flipside, about half of Pakistan’s world cup squad members have performed well previously in New Zealand – Mohammad Hafeez, Shehzad Ahmed, Younis Khan, skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi and Wahab Riaz all playing key roles in their side’s 3-2 defeat of the BLACKCAPS at the start of 2011.

The Pakistan world cup squad attended a camp in Lahore before departing for New Zealand, where the media reported batsmen practising on surfaces containing large marble slabs – in order to acclimatise themselves against the extra pace and bounce expected on either side of the Tasman.

The biggest headache for the Pakistan management team at the moment is probably the squad’s bowling reserves, already shorn of the spin services of Saeed Ajmal and Hafeez, and more recently hampered by an injury suffered by fast bowler Junaid Khan.

However, the inclusion of leg-spinners Afridi and Yasir Shah, along with the capable Wahab Riaz and fellow left-arm paceman Mohammad Irfan – at 2.16m easily the tallest fast bowler in international cricket, means the BLACKCAPS can count on a stern examination at the batting crease in the upcoming encounters at Westpac Stadium and McLean Park.

The Pakistan batting line-up, though, looks to be the side’s strongest asset. Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis, Shehzad, Umar, Hafeez and Afridi provide a potent blend of volatility and calculated attack, while Haris Sohail won his place in Pakistan’s world cup squad on the back of some strong performances against the BLACKCAPS during last month’s series in the United Arab Emirates.

Adding weight to that, Pakistan has a relatively strong record in New Zealand (15 wins, 22 losses, 1 tie), suggesting the players have historically shown an ability to successfully adjust and adapt to the different conditions.

The first ANZ ODI in Wellington will be the 95^th between the BLACKCAPS and Pakistan, dating back to both teams’ first official ODI – in Christchurch on 11 February, 1973, at Lancaster Park.

On that occasion, a crowd of 12,000 watched New Zealand beat Pakistan in near darkness (there was no light rule then) in a 40 (eight-ball) overs match featuring such well known players as Sadiq and Mushtaq Mohammad, Majid Khan, Asif Iqbal and Sarfraz Nawaz. The New Zealand team, the first to play an official ODI, was: Peter Coman, Glenn Turner, Bevan Congdon, Brian Hastings, Mark Burgess, Graham Vivian, Ken Wadsworth, Dayle Hadlee, Richard Hadlee, Hedley Howarth and Richard Collinge.

Pakistan Cricket World Cup squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfraz Ahmed, Younis Khan, Haris Sohail, Umar Akmal, Sohaib Maqsood, Shahid Afridi, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Irfan, Bilawal Bhatti, Ehsan Adil, Sohail Khan, Wahab Riaz