Blackcaps bowler Lockie Ferguson's treading with caution ahead of Wednesday's Cricket World Cup clash with Pakistan.
As one of the more unpredictable teams at the tournament, Ferguson's wary about Pakistan's upset potential, despite the shaky start to their campaign that's yielded just two wins from six games to date.
They also have a proven history as a bogey side for New Zealand at World Cups, having got the better of the Blackcaps on five of their seven encounters at previous tournaments, most notably the semi-final defeat to Martin Crowe's men on home soil in in 1992.
"We realise the end of our competition will bring us up against some of the stronger teams in the competition," Ferguson told Newshub. "We'll part that win over the West Indies and we have to move on to Pakistan, who are very dangerous."
Ferguson's one of the hottest bowlers at the tournament so far, currently second in the wicket taking ranks with 14.
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Three of those came in a critical performance against the West Indies on Sunday morning (NZT), breaking a threatening partnership between Chris Gayle and Shimron Hetmyer with two wickets in consecutive deliveries that swung the contest in the Kiwis' favour.
"My role is to come in during those middle periods and create chances. We talked a lot about the power that the West Indies have in their line-up and how we wanted to attack them, knowing that they would come hard at us for boundaries, which they did.
"Gayle and Hetmeyer were creating quiet a nice partnership and going well above the run rate, so it was just about attacking for us.
"I think everyone saw how pumped up I was."
Coming back to earth after what Ferguson described as a "fantastic game of cricket" and refocusing on the next challenge is an essential skill he believes is simply part of the team's culture.
" We celebrate the win that night and make sure that we stay in the changing sheds and talk about how great a day it was… and then the next day we do our scouting on the next team and
"The team is really good at parking it and moving on and - at a World Cup - I think that's particularly important."
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