Waqar urges fielding improvement

Pakistan coach Waqar Younis has said his side needs to improve its fielding and batting against the short ball to be competitive at the 2015 World Cup in February and March. Pakistan lost the fifth ODI against New Zealand by 68 runs in Abu Dhabi on Friday to concede the series 2-3.

"We need to improve our fielding," Waqar said after the game. "It is not up to the mark and [we] must improve a lot. We also need to work hard on short balls as we have to go to Australia and both these things need to be spot on if you want to compete in the World Cup." The only international games Pakistan have left before the tournament are two ODIs in New Zealand on January 31 and February 3.

New Zealand scored 275 for 4 in the final ODI of the series in the UAE, with their captain Kane Williamson making 97. Pakistan were dismissed for 207 in 43.3 overs in the chase. Despite the defeat, Waqar said the series had not been a complete write-off. "We did achieve what we needed but not 100%. Now we have a one-day cup back home and hope that things will be clearer after that."

Williamson hailed the series victory as a "big achievement," especially because New Zealand were without regular captain Brendon McCullum, and fast bowlers Tim Southee and Trent Boult. New Zealand bounced back from conceding the series lead twice before winning the decider.

"There is still time for the World Cup, it's good it will be in our conditions and this series win is a big achievement," Williamson said. "We learned from our mistakes, beat a strong Pakistan side and have shown improvement. In a series that went up and down, it was fantastic to learn from the Pakistan side and to win in such an evenly-fought series has been great.

"It was important to keep adapting our plans, the personnel changed quite a lot, we had a lot of injuries. It has been a great series, an emotional series for many reasons and both teams put on some fantastic cricket."

New Zealand will travel home to host Sri Lanka, beginning with the Boxing Day Test at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.