Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Pakistanis arrive in NZ today

Updated at 6:39 am on 16 November 2009

The Pakistan cricket captain Mohammad Yousuf says the bowler-friendly pitches in the early part of the New Zealand summer will be one of the biggest challenges for his team during the three Test series.

The Pakistani's arrive in New Zealand today to play a warmup match in Queenstown starting on Wednesday, before the first test in Dunedin next week.

Yousuf says they're going to encounter seaming wickets and batting on them will be a big challenge for them.

Coach Intikhab Alam agreed and also believes the Black Caps captain Daniel Vettori is likely to be the big threat for them.

The New Zealand eleven to play the tour opener will be captained by Grant Elliott, who has recovered from his thumb injury, and includes a fit Daryl Tuffey and Test hopefuls Tim McIntosh and Daniel Flynn.

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