Abu Dhabi: After almost six weeks of action and two drawn series, the Pakistan versus New Zealand tour will finally produce a decisive result as the sides play the fifth and final One Day International (ODI) at the Shaikh Zayed Stadium here on Friday.

The teams have been evenly matched throughout the Kiwis’ visit to the UAE, with the three-Test series shared 1-1 and the subsequent pair of Twenty20 matches resulting in the same score — both times after Pakistan took the lead only to be pegged back.

The tour-ending (ODI) series has also ebbed and flowed, with New Zealand twice recovering from deficits. And their narrow seven-run win in Wednesday’s fourth one-dayer means it’s all or nothing for both teams on Friday.

Such a pressure situation will be good preparation ahead of the 2015 World Cup and Pakistan coach Waqar Younis hopes the decider will help him pick the 15 players he will take to Australia and New Zealand in February.

“We wanted to get a clear picture of which of our boys can go to a big stage like the World Cup. We will be trying our level best to win this series,” he said.

“We are on the right path. After the next ODI tournament and by the end of the domestic season, we will be about to find the right set of boys.”

Pakistan suffered a setback when veteran skipper Misbah-ul-Haq suffered an injury in the second ODI, but the return to form of fellow senior pro Younis Khan, who scored a century on Wednesday, was a welcome boost.

Younis’ century was his first since 2008 and also meant he became the oldest Pakistani to score a one-day hundred at 37 years 18 days, eclipsing Zaheer Abbas’ previous mark.

Earlier in the match, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson made what turned out to be a match-winning contribution of 123 off 105 balls as his team racked up 299 batting first.

“It was nice to contribute in that fashion and all the time the aim was to take the team total to 300 plus. A few cameos and partnerships along the way were crucial,” said the 24-year-old.

“It was a nice step forward from the Sharjah game and a much-improved performance from us playing under pressure. We would like to improve on a lot of other things but we will be on a high going into the last match of the series on a used wicket.”

Williamson was also pleased with bowlers Adam Milne and Matt Henry, who roughed up Pakistan’s frontline batsmen with their searing pace.

“Henry bowled very fast and Adam took the key wicket of Shahid [Afridi], who has been in good touch. We have a good crop of fast bowlers and we are backing them all. They are young but managed their workload well,” the Black Caps captain said.

The Pakistan team have come in for criticism for playing Wednesday’s match just a day after the terrorist attack on Peshawar and Afridi admitted it was hard for them to take the field.

“It was a tough decision to play the match but we played the game to bring happiness to the families who lost their dear ones,” he said. “We fielded poorly and conceded too many runs, but I am happy that we fought till the last.”