Arshad Chughtai Photo © CricInfo

Pakistan team is scheduled to start the current tour of New Zealand from 17th February. The team will play five One-day Internationals and three Test matches on this trip. Pakistan enjoys a distinct supremacy over the Black Caps in both test and one-day cricket in terms of past results.

Out of the 39 test matches played between them, Pakistan has won 18 whilst their opponents have emerged victorious on five occasions. In ODI's, Pakistan has won 31 out of 51 matches, with the Black Caps winning 18. Nevertheless, New Zealand has developed into a very competitive and fighting team in recent years. On the other hand, the Pakistan team is ranked amongst the best teams of the world on the basis of their over all strength and potential. It is, therefore, expected that the forthcoming test and one-day series will be quite competitive and interesting. The current tour to New Zealand is the 9th by the Pakistan team including one during the 1992 World Cup.

Pakistan's previous tours to New Zealand are highlighted below:

1964-65
After the establishment of Cricket ties between the two countries in 1955-56, it took nearly ten years for the first Pakistan team to visit New Zealand in 1964-65. Hanif Mohammad also known as the 'Little Master' led the Pakistan team. At this stage, Pakistan was in a restructuring phase after its disastrous tour of England in 1962. J.R. Reid led New Zealand in three four-day tests that were all drawn. Pakistan escaped a certain defeat in the first test at Basin Reserve, Wellington with a deficit of 118 runs and only 3 wickets in hand, when play ended. Asif Iqbal with 82 runs and 6 wickets was their hero. The Black Caps were trapped in an almost identical situation being 67 runs in arrears and only 3 wickets left when the match ended at Auckland. Prevaiz Sajjad took four wickets with out conceding any run in ten balls. At Lancaster Park, Christchurch Hanif Mohammad scored 100 and remained not out, Mohammad Ilyas and Saeed Ahmed made 88 and 87, respectively, but R.W. Morgan steered the Black Caps to safety with 97 in the second innings. Medium pacer, late Mufasir-ul-Haq, appeared in the only test of his career. Asif Iqbal with 18 wickets and Richard Collinge with 15 wickets were the most successful bowlers in the series.

1972-73
After a gap of eight years, Pakistan paid their next visit to New Zealand. Led by Intikhab Alam the tourist's made up for their earlier lapses in Australia, the same summer where, despite coming in a winning position twice, they came under pressure and failed in the end. At Dunedin, Mushtaq Mohammad scored a majestic 201 and added record 350 runs for the fourth wicket with Asif Iqbal (175), which ultimately brought Pakistan victory by an innings and 166 runs. Intikhab Alam claimed eleven wickets in the match. Sadiq Mohammad (166) and Majid Khan (110) scored centuries in the drawn encounters at Wellington and Auckland, respectively.

Pakistan on this tour also played their first ever one-day International at Lancaster Park but lost the 40-over match by 22 runs. Dayle Hadlee claimed 4/34 and Sarfraz Nawaz took 4/46. Mark Burgess scored 47 runs.

1978-79
Mushtaq Mohammad led a strong Pakistan team comprising of Majid Khan, Asif Iqbal, Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad, Wasim Raja, Sarfraz Nawaz, Imran Khan and Wasim Bari. Javed Miandad remained not out at 81 & 160 while Mushtaq Mohammad claimed 9 wickets in the first test at Christchurch to win the match by 128 runs. Bruce Edgar scored 129 and Richard Hadlee claimed 8 wickets at Maclean Park, Napier in the second drawn test. Majid Khan (119), Asif Iqbal (104) and G.P. Howarth (114) scored centuries. The significant feature of the third drawn test at Auckland was the creation of a new record for most dismissals by a wicket keeper in an innings (Wasim Bari with 7 victims) in New Zealand's first innings. Zaheer Abbas scored 135.

1984-85
New Zealand won their first test series against Pakistan at home by 2-0. Pakistan was missing the services of Imran Khan due to injury and Sarfraz Nawaz's retirement. Still, the new sensation Wasim Akram, in only his second test, almost bowled Pakistan to victory with 10 wickets, in the third and final test of the series at Dunedin, which the visitors narrowly lost by 2 wickets due to superb knock of 111 not out by J.V. Coney. Earlier torrential rain caused abandonment of play on the final day of the drawn first match at Wellington. J.F. Reid scored 148. New Zealand won the second test at Auckland convincingly by an innings and 99 runs. J.F. Reid scored 158, M.D. Crowe 84. Black Caps also won the 4 match one-day International series 3-0. The fourth and final match at Auckland was abandoned due to rain. R.J. Hadlee, J.F. Reid and Javed Miandad won players of the match awards.

1988-89
The highlight of the three-test drawn series was a memorable mammoth innings of 271 by Javed Miandad at Auckland (third test). The first test match at Dunedin was abandoned after continuous rains on the first three days. Martin Crow (174), Shoaib Mohammad (163), Javed Miandad (118) scored centuries in the second test at Wellington. Saleem Jaffer, Imran Khan and Richard Hadlee claimed 8, 6 and 4 wickets, respectively, at Christchurch, Wellington and Hamilton. At Auckland, Shoaib Mohammad scored 112 and Abdul Qadir claimed 6 wickets in the first innings. New Zealand won the ODI series 3-1. Andrew Jones, Shoaib Mohammad, Rameez Raja and D.K. Morrison won players of the match awards. New Zealand won by seven, six and seven wickets, respectively, at Christchurch, Wellington and Hamilton. Pakistan recorded their only victory (by seven wickets) at Auckland.

1992-93
After participating in the World Series Cup in Australia, Pakistan team led by Javed Miandad visited New Zealand to play three one-day Internationals and a test match. Pakistan won the low scoring test at Hamilton. Set to score just 136 runs of victory, the home-team collapsed in the second innings and was bundled out for 93. Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram claimed five wickets each. Earlier Mark Greatbatch scored 133 out of New Zealand's first innings total of 264 in reply to Pakistan's modest score of 216, mainly built by Javed Miandad (92). The duo of Wasim and Waqar claimed 17 wickets in the thrilling match.

New Zealand won the three-match one-day series 2-1. At Wellington, Pakistan won by 50 runs. New Zealand avenged this defeat by successive victories, of six wickets each, at Napier and Auckland. Wasim Akram won player of the match award at Wellington and M.D. Crowe won the awards at Napier and Auckland.

1993-94
Saleem Malik led Pakistan with a 2-1 victory in tests and 3-1 in one-day Internationals on this tour. Pakistan won the first test at Auckland by 5 wickets. Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis were the wrecker-in-chief claiming 15 wickets in the match. At Wellington, the visitors won by an innings and 12 runs. Saleem Malik (140), Inzamam-ul-Haq (135) and Saeed Anwar (169) scored centuries. Wasim Akram claimed 11 and Waqar Younis got 5 wickets. Due to irresponsible batting by the batsmen in the second innings, Pakistan surprisingly lost the third test at Christchurch in spite of gaining a substantial lead of 144 runs on the first innings. Basit Ali scored 103 & 67. Bryan Young (120) and Thomson (120 not out) steered New Zealand to a surprise 5-wicket victory. The famous pair of Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram again accounted for 12 wickets in the match. Pakistan won the five-match one-day Internationals series 3-1. Pakistan won by 5 wickets at Dunedin, by 36 runs at Auckland and by 11 runs at Wellington and lost by 7 wickets at Christchurch. The 4th one-day match at Auckland resulted in a tie.

1995-96
Pakistan played one test and five one-day Internationals on this tour. Pakistan, led by Wasim Akram, convincingly won the Christchurch test by 161 runs. Mushtaq Ahmed claimed 10 wickets with Ijaz Ahmed scoring 103 and Inzamam 82. For the Black Caps, R.G. Twose scored 59 and 51 and remained not out. The one-day series was drawn 2-2. Waqar Younis, Inzamam and Wasim Akram won player of the match awards at Dunedin, Christchurch and Wellington while N.J. Astle won the award at Auckland.

Current series
On the measure of current strength, Pakistan is one of the strongest sides in the world. Though they have seldom performed to their true potential in recent times, their batting and bowling is an excellent blend of youth and experience. Their main weapon is potent and lethal fast bowling attack comprising Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami with back up from Abdur Razzaq and Azhar Mahmood. Their batting though on occasions unpredictable but is generally formidable. Promising newcomer Imran Farhat is expected to show his talent. Leg spinner Mushtaq Ahmed, who played a key role in Pakistan's success in the 1995 tour, is again expected to make good use of that experience. The only area, which still remains a suspect, is their fielding. The other weakness being a tendency of the batsmen to play too many early strokes leads to their collapses. These issues need to be carefully tended to by the coach and captain during the tour. In view of the comparative strength, Pakistan stands a good chance in the current series. The Black Caps known for their fighting spirit are likely to give a tough fight to the visitors. Led by Stephen Fleming, New Zealand has a very capable team comprising of: N.J. Astle, C.J. Nevin, R.G. Twose, C.D. McMillan, C.Z. Harris, D. Vettori, J. Franklin, C. Martin, L. Vincent, M. Sinclair, C.M. Spearman, A.C. Parore, G.I. Allott, S.B. Styris, S.B.O'Connor, and P.J. Wiseman.

YEAR	TEST MATCHES
	WON	LOST	DRAWN	ABANDONED
1964-65 1972-73 1978-79 1984-85 1988-89 1992-93 1993-94 1995-96	0 1 1 0 0 1 2 1	0 0 0 2 0 - 1 -	3 2 2 1 2 - 0 -	- - - - 1 - 0 -
TOTAL	6	3	10	1

YEAR	ONE DAY INTERNATIONALS
	WON	LOST	TIED	NR/ABANDONED
1964-65 1972-73 1978-79 1984-85 1988-89 1992-93 1993-94 1995-96	- - - 0 1 1 3 2	- 1 - 3 3 2 1 2	- 0 - 0 0 - 1 -	- 0 - 1 0 - - -
TOTAL	7	12	1	1

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