The 1992 World Cup winners were bowled out for 184 against lowly ranked Canada last week and were only rescued by skipper Shahid Afridi's second five-wicket haul of the tournament.
Experienced Younis Khan and test captain Misbah-ul-Haq consumed most of the overs in the wins against Kenya and Sri Lanka before Canada's inexperienced seamers exposed Pakistan batsmen's vulnerability against swing bowling in overcast conditions.
Concern over the batting depth has caused selectors to take a cautious approach by picking batsmen or all-rounders down to No. 8 and having only three specialist bowlers.
Pakistan greats Imran Khan and Wasim Akram have criticized the selection policy, but Afridi has faith in all-rounder Abdul Razzaq's ability with the bat at No. 8 and with the ball, hoping he can make a difference in bigger matches.
Pakistan team manager Intikhab Alam has rejected criticism of the selections so far, saying Pakistan is picking the combinations most capable of winning.
"We have not closed our eyes and ears," Intikhab said. "The team management is doing its homework and whatever is in the best interest of the team they do it."
Openers Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad have struggled, making it less likely that Pakistan will replace Razzaq with a specialist bowler.
Shehzad scored his maiden ODI century in Pakistan's 3-2 series win over New Zealand last month, but has scored just 26 runs in three matches here.
Hafeez has only tallied 52, with a top score of 32 against Sri Lanka.
"Our starts are not good considering the kind of players we have," Afridi said. "I hope the openers will start hitting the form soon."
Pakistan and New Zealand haven't met in the World Cup since the 1999 semifinal. Pakistan won that match to reach the final, but hasn't gone past the group stage since then.
Pakistan has lost just once to New Zealand in the World Cup - at Birmingham in 1983.
But records and recent series matter little to Afridi, who was retained as World Cup captain only after he guided Pakistan to the series victory in New Zealand last month.
"That was a series and this is World Cup and that win is now behind us, we have to look forward," Afridi said. "Every team has come well prepared."
While Pakistan's top order has struggled, New Zealand leading batsmen have been confident apart the loss to Australia.
Openers Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum have combined well to hand weak Kenya and Zimbabwe 10 wickets defeats to stay in contention for the quarterfinal place.
"I'm not sure you could ask for too much more," skipper Daniel Vettori said after openers chased down 162-run target against Zimbabwe with 16.3 overs to spare.
Vettori is well aware of Pakistan's bowling attack, which got on top in New Zealand and could again trouble his batsmen.
"I think we know how good their bowling can be," Vettori said. "They can probably defend any score because of the nature of (Shahid) Afridi, (Saeed) Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Wahab Riaz, (Umar) Gul, it brings a lot onto the table."
Afridi looking for more from top order against Kiwis
Advertisement