Captain Kane Williamson will ignore New Zealand's substantial favouritism going into the two-Test home series against a Sri Lanka team in disarray.
A week after their momentous series win over Pakistan on the dustbowls of the UAE, the Black Caps must adjust to their country's greenest surface for the first Test starting on Saturday at Wellington's Basin Reserve.
Sri Lanka are in the same boat, if not the same form, fresh from a 3-0 home series loss to England.
The tourists arrive to a backdrop of discontent within their governing body and with a dearth of players who have proven themselves in Kiwi conditions, where they've lost their past four Tests.
A New Zealand team with few obvious weaknesses are firm favourites to sweep the series and jump to second on the Test rankings.
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Williamson was the dominant batsman in the Pakistan series, lifting him to second in the batting rankings behind Virat Kohli.
Despite averaging more than 90 against Sri Lanka, the skipper says he will join his teammates in taking nothing for granted.
Most important would be mirroring the attitude that took them to a first away series win over Pakistan in 49 years.
"There's always things you want to improve, but one of the highlights was the constant fight the team showed throughout when the game ebbed and flowed a lot," he said.
"As soon as it comes to tomorrow, it's 50-50 and it's whoever plays the best cricket. For us, it's about playing our best and smart cricket."
New Zealand's chief weapon is their proven pace trio of Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner.
Evergreen new ball pair Southee (224 Test scalps) and Boult (222) are poised to move past Chris Martin to sit behind just Richard Hadlee and Dan Vettori on the country's wicket-taking leaderboard.
