New Zealand are on the brink of a series whitewash after suffering a 102-run defeat against Pakistan in the fourth ODI at Karachi.
Despite missing key players to IPL and injury, coach Gary Stead must be concerned with the World Cup just five months away.
After winning the toss and electing to field first again, New Zealand's bowlers toiled against the devastating batting of the hosts.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam struck a century, while powerful low-order batting propelled them to an imposing 334/6.
Azam assumed the role of accumulator, while his batting partners put the Blackcaps bowlers to the sword, hitting almost 100 runs in the final 10 overs.
Matt Henry was the pick of an average bunch, taking 3/65, while ODI debutant Ben Lister prized the wicket of Azam.
Leg-spin bowler Ish Sodhi was the only other Blackcaps bowler to nab a wicket, with Blair Tickner, Cole McConchie, and James Neesham unable to find a breakthrough.
Unlike their opponents, the Blackcaps innings struggled early on, losing both openers inside the first 10 overs.
Will Young was first to depart for 15, before Tom Blundell picked out the fielder the very next over to leave New Zealand at 46/2.
But after encouraging back-to-back partnerships, New Zealand had put themselves in a position to launch a counter-attack.
Captain Tom Latham and Daryl Mitchell combined for 83 runs, before the latter's resistance was finally ended for 34.
Latham found respite in his next batting partner, with T20 series star Mark Chapman playing an aggressive knock.
The pair put on 55 runs, before Latham nicked Shaheen Afridi for a team-high 60, which proved to be the beginning of the end for the visitors.
Chapman's adventurous knock ended just two overs later, with Usama Mir disrupting his stumps to be dismissed for 46 runs.
New Zealand's remaining five wickets fell for just 27 runs, with the tail unable to see out the innings, and were bowled out for just 232.
The result sees Pakistan leapfrog Australia and India to the top of the ODI rankings, with the final match of the series still to be played on Sunday.
Pakistan 334/6 (Azam 107, Salman 58; Henry 3/65) New Zealand 232 (Latham 60, Chapman 46; Mir 4/43, Wasim 3/40)
