LAHORE, Oct 14: New Zealand Cricket Board (NZCB) has confirmed the tour of Pakistan comprising five ODI matches, starting from Nov 22 to Dec 1.

The tour is being held to compensate the losses Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) suffered, due to cancellation of last Test match of the three match series between Pakistan and New Zealand at Karachi in May, 2002 due to suicide attack near the team’s hotel, killing several French naval personnel.

The exact date of arrival of the team has not been decided yet.

According to the itinerary, the tour is confined to Punjab’s three cities Faisalabad, Rawalpindi and Lahore like the present ongoing tour of South Africa.

A PCB spokesman said that Karachi had been excluded from the tour at the request of NZCB.

The first three matches will be played in the month of Ramzan and the remaining two after Eid-ul-Fitr.

The first match will be played at Faisalabad on Nov 22. Rawalpindi will host back to back matches on Nov 24 and 25.

The last two matches will be held at Gaddafi Stadium on Nov 29 and Dec 1.

The matches at Lahore and Rawalpindi will be Day/Night, despite the fact, Lahore has been under heavy fog during Nov-Dec and various matches of domestic seasons had been abandoned due to it.

“PCB is considering the factor of weather but at the moment this schedule is final”, a PCB official said.