New Zealand coach Denis Aberhart believes his team is on target for next year's World Cup, and has dismissed criticism of their lacklustre form. "We have had a lot of injuries recently but we're still progressing well towards next year's World Cup, and although at times the results are disappointing and we need to be consistent, we definitely are not underachievers," Aberhart told reporters.

New Zealand are in Karachi, preparing to take on Pakistan in the first of three day-night limited overs matches.

"The team is ready for the match and working hard for what would be a big challenge for us because Pakistan is really a good side," said Aberhart, a former school teacher from Canterbury who took over as coach in September.

New Zealand came close to beating Australia in the drawn three-match Test series at the end of 2001, and finished runners-up to South Africa in the tri-nations one-day series that followed.

They beat England 3-2 in the one-day series at home and won the last Test in Auckland to square the Test series 1-1.

But last week they were demolished by Pakistan in Sharjah and failed to qualify for the final of that tournament, which also involved Sri Lanka.

Players affected by injuries recently include Craig McMillan, Chris Nevin, Chris Cairns, Lou Vincent and Daniel Vettori.

Nevin and McMillan, the vice captain, are still under an injury cloud, Aberhart said.

"Nevin is progressing well after a hamstring injury in Sharjah while McMillan has twisted his ankle so both are on the watch list," he said.

Captain Stephen Fleming said he was not worried that his side had been tagged as underdogs in the Pakistani press.

"We are here to play competitive cricket and we're not bothered about paper talk of underdogs and things like that," Fleming said.

The tourists are under tight security given recent threats to Western interests in Pakistan by Islamic extremists angry over Islamabad's cooperation with the US-led war in neighbouring Afghanistan.

In contrast, Pakistan is on a high after their victory in Sharjah, when they crushed Sri Lanka in the final.

But experienced opener Saeed Anwar has been ruled out of the series after he failed to fully recover from a wrist injury he sustained in October.

The other two one-day games will be played in Rawalpindi on April 24 and in Lahore on April 27, followed by two Tests in Lahore and Karachi.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd