Afghanistan might have arrived at the World Cup as bit of a mystery to many cricket fans, but not to New Zealand coach Mike Hesson.

In his stint with Kenya, Hesson coached against Afghanistan, the Black Caps’ next opponents.

He has also seen plenty of them in matches against other ICC associate nations.

“They have three guys who bowl over 140 [km/h] and they can swing it,” he said.

“Generally, their batsmen don’t die wondering. It should be a good contest. We have to show them due respect and make sure we put in a good performance.”

The squad from a war-torn country, which has had a national cricket team for only 15 years, have provided a World Cup story to capture the imagination.

After a disappointing start for the tournament novices against Bangladesh, they ran Sri Lanka close before beating Scotland in a thriller in Dunedin, getting home by one wicket with three balls to spare.

Their three main quicks – Shapoor Zadran, Dawlat Zadran and Hamid Hassan – all got among the wickets against the Scots, with Shapoor taking 4-38.

Afghanistan next have the tough task of trying to match it against a wounded Australia in Perth on Wednesday.

They then head back across the Tasman to take on the Black Caps in Napier next Sunday.

The New Zealanders, fresh from their one-wicket win over their trans-Tasman rivals, have Monday and Tuesday off before getting back to training on Wednesday.

They have already faced their three toughest opponents in their pool – Sri Lanka, England and Australia – and their four-from-four record so far all but books them a spot in the quarter-finals.

But Hesson is sure the Black Caps won’t drop their standards against Afghanistan or against Bangladesh in Hamilton the following Friday.

Maintaining focus would be easy, he said.

“We’re in a World Cup and we’re pretty serious about it,” he said.

“We’ll do our scouting on Afghanistan and we’ll prepare the best we can. We’ve still got a lot to achieve in the next few weeks.”