What?
The G.J Gardner Homes ODI Series between the BLACKCAPS and ICC Champions Trophy winners Pakistan.
Where?
The series starts in Wellington at the Basin Reserve tomorrow! Next up the teams head to Nelson for match two on the 9th of January. They then stay in the South Island for match three on the 13th of January for Dunedin’s first match of the season. The final two matches of the series see the teams return north for match 4 on the 16th of January in Hamilton before returning to where it all began for the final match on January 19 at the Basin Reserve. 
Who?
A late change has been made to the BLACKCAPS squad with a hamstring injury forcing Doug Bracewell out and seeing his Central Stags teammate George Worker join the squad.
BLACKCAPS (First two ODIs) -
Kane Williamson (c) - Northern Districts
Todd Astle - Canterbury
Trent Boult - Northern Districts
Lockie Ferguson - Auckland
Martin Guptill - Auckland
Matt Henry - Canterbury
Tom Latham - Canterbury
Colin Munro - Auckland
Henry Nicholls - Canterbury
Mitchell Santner - Northern Districts
Tim Southee - Northern Districts
Ross Taylor - Central Districts
George Worker - Central Districts
Pakistan -
Sarfraz Ahmed
Azhar Ali
Faheem Ashraf
Haris Sohail
Imam-ul-Haq
Mohammad Hafeez
Rumman Raees
Shoaib Malik
Aamer Yamin
Babar Azam
Fakhar Zaman
Hasan Ali
Mohammad Amir
Mohammad Nawaz
Shadab Khan
What are they saying?
“In terms of the bowling, the variety that Pakistan offer is going to be a challenge and certainly from a batting point of view they have some aggressive players and some experienced players so it’s quite a different challenge.” - Mike Hesson 
“It’s good to be back at the Basin, not a lot of One Day cricket has been played here of late but obviously that last game here was a great crowd so hopefully the weather can hold off so we can have another great showing tomorrow.” - Tim Southee
“It’s a new challenge. Pakistan will challenge us in different ways than the West Indies side. They are coming off current champions in the ICC Champions Trophy. They’ve been playing some good cricket for a number of years now. So we are excited about the challenge and change in formats. There is a real buzz around the camp at the moment.” - Tim Southee
#StatChat
The BLACKCAPS have won their last six completed ODIs against Pakistan.
However the visitors arrive on our shores on a hot run of nine ODI wins in a row. Pakistan also boast the number one ranked ODI bowler in the world in Hasan Ali and the number one ranked all-rounder in Mohammad Hafeez. 
On the personal milestone front, Martin Guptill is poised to become the 13th player to play 150 One Day Internationals for New Zealand. The big opener has averaged 58.6 since the start of 2015 in New Zealand and made 82 in his last outing against Pakistan.
Last time at the Basin
The last ODI held at the Basin Reserve was also contested between the BLACKCAPS and Pakistan. Henry Nicholls was named Player of the Match in that encounter after his 82 helped lead the team to a 70 run victory. 
Check out the scorecard from that match here.
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