Earlier, New Zealand won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Queenstown Events Centre, a venue where no side batting first has ever won.

The tourists, coming off a nine-wicket hiding in the first game of the six-match series, will field a rejigged line-up as they seek a winning combination ahead of next month's World Cup.

"We have time now to do some experimentation before the World Cup because you can't do experiments in the World Cup," Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi said.

Pakistan brought in batsman Ahmed Shehzad for Asad Shafiq, while bowlers Wahab Riaz and Umar Gul replaced Abdur Rehman and Shoaib Akhtar.

New Zealand, whose victory on Saturday ended an 11-match losing streak in one-dayers called up batsman Jamie How in the place of Nathan McCullum.

The Black Caps stayed with their new opening partnership of Jesse Ryder and Martin Guptill.

Captain Daniel Vettori said conditions should suit paceman Tim Southee, who took five wickets in the first game in Wellington on Saturday.

"It's overcast, it should assist the bowlers early on," he said.

Queenstown, a South Island ski resort town, has hosted only six one day internationals since 2003.

In each of them, the side that won the toss has elected to bowl first and gone on to win.

Teams

New Zealand - Jesse Ryder, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Jamie How, Scott Styris, James Franklin, Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori (captain), Tim Southee, Hamish Bennett.

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Shahid Afridi (captain), Abdul Razzaq, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz

Umpires:Chris Gaffaney (NZL), Amiesh Saheba (IND)

TV umpire: Barry Frost (NZL)

Match referee: Alan Hurst (AUS)