New Zealand rang the changes for the second National Bank Test and it seems that despite an outstanding winning margin of 299 runs Pakistan is also to make changes before tomorrow's first day at Jade Stadium in Christchurch.

On an older portable pitch, and one that is likely to have more speed and bounce than the Auckland version, Pakistan is looking to leave out one of its spinners, probably leg spinner Mushtaq Ahmed while bringing in Faizal Akhbar.

Also returning to the side will be Inzamam-ul-Haq who suffered a groin injury 12 days ago. He will take the place of Misbah-ul-Haq, according to all popular theories.

There is also an element of intrigue over whether Ijaz Ahmed will come into the side, possibly as an opening batsman in place of Saleem Elahi.

It would be unusual for a winning side to make three changes and Ijaz is probably the player with the most tenuous hope of inclusion.

Pakistan captain Moin Khan said the side was not yet finalised and it might be tomorrow before a final decision was made.

"The pitch looks a great Test wicket with grass on it and it could seam a bit. It looks a bit softer than the one-day pitch we played on here," he said.

It was likely Pakistan would take three seamers into the match.

"It could be a bit difficult to bat on to start with but later on it will help the batsmen," he said.

"It was such a great victory in Auckland that it is difficult to change the team but the pitch is a bit different and there is enough good experience in the team.

Meanwhile, the shell-shocked home team appear to have decided to fight with fire after their humiliating experiences.

They arrived at practice armed with balls sand-papered on one side and shiny on the other in a bid to simulate the reverse swing that Mohammed Sami especially was able to inflict on New Zealand in Auckland.

Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, said the way the side looked after the ball would be by all the laws of the game.

"We'll take better care of one side by getting a good shine on the ball. We'll be making no attempts to deliberately tamper with the ball," he said.

The bowling changes for the Test with Chris Drum, Jacob Oram and Grant Bradburn coming into the side gave Fleming new options for the match.

"Chris Drum comes into the game after a very good performance at Lincoln for New Zealand A and with positive belief," he said while Oram and Bradburn have been good performers this summer.

Fleming also rubbished critics of the CLEAR Black Caps who felt the side didn't appear to be suffering enough public hurt after their performance in which the last nine wickets fell for 26 runs at Eden Park.

"Comments like that are pathetic. We were devastated. We hurt more than anybody.

"But you've got to get straight back on the horse," he said.

Jade Stadium's portable pitch may be a throwback to the Lancaster Park pitches of old which fooled many a Test captain, several of them New Zealanders, into making a wrong choice after winning the toss.

Like this pitch, the strips of the past were presented as grassy-looking, offering a hint of sideways movement, but in actual fact proved straight, fast and true, with good carry – in other words, good batting strips.

Groundsman Chris Lewis said all the characteristics were there for the same to apply on this occasion.

Whoever wins the toss, it is clear the home team has a huge amount of catch-up work to do.

"We will have to fight a little harder than in the last Test. There will be a little bit of tension when we first come out, especially if we are batting first," Fleming said.

Players just needed to have positive thoughts out in the middle although it was a tough attack the side was facing. "They have to rely on the positive experiences they had against Pakistan, even though it was in one-day stuff. Nathan Astle got a century, and so did Craig McMillan."

Fleming didn't think it would be hard for New Zealand to come back from the hiding of the First Test.

"It will be easier because we haven't had longer to ponder on it and create more self-doubt," he said.

But if they require any motivation at all, the players needed to be aware that the collapse in Auckland provided New Zealand with another unwanted Test statistic - the loss of nine wickets for 26, and eight wickets for 10 runs, were the respective worst collapses of any team which already had 100 runs on the board.

© CricInfo Ltd.