The White Ferns will have to overcome India or Australia in the group stage of the women's Twenty20 World Cup next year after a tough draw was announced yesterday.
The two other teams in the pool are Sri Lanka and a yet-to-be-found qualifier, so if New Zealand want to advance to the semifinals from the group, they will need to beat either their transtasman rivals or an Indian team that thrashed them in the first ODI of their series last week.
New Zealand open their campaign against Sri Lanka at the Waca Ground in Perth on February 22.
In the men's, the Black Caps have been drawn in a Super 12 group alongside Pakistan, Australia and the West Indies, with two more qualifiers to be added - one of whom will be either Bangladesh or Sri Lanka.
The Black Caps open their tournament against the West Indies at the MCG on October 25.
