New Zealand will pack away their whites until May, but hope their recent success in the long form of the game continues in the 50-over format as they build towards the World Cup.

The Black Caps won their third Test in a row to down Sri Lanka by 193 runs at the Basin Reserve and start a seven-match ODI series against the same opponents in Christchurch on Sunday.

The two sides will meet again at Hagley Oval in the World Cup opener on February 14 and the squad for the tournament is named on Thursday.

Brendon McCullum is aware of the importance of the Sri Lanka series ahead of the four-yearly tournament which they have designs on winning.

“It’s going to be a tough challenge to keep the guys focused on that when there is a World Cup around the corner.

“But we know for us to be a realistic chance at the World Cup we have to be performing in these games leading into it and make sure we’ve got that kind of momentum,” he said.

But McCullum admits success in one form of the game does not necessarily translate across formats.

“I’ve always said you’ve got to treat each form of the game separately. Normally I’d say that after we’d had a loss in one form and we were heading to a different form, but it still holds true here.

“We’ve performed reasonably well in one-day cricket of late and it’s going to be a huge period in their lives for this group of players.”

New Zealand squad (probable): Brendon McCullum (capt), Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham, Corey Anderson, James Neesham, Luke Ronchi, Daniel Vettori, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Tim Southee, Adam Milne, Mitchell McClenaghan, Trent Boult.