April 28 (Reuters) - New Zealand coach Gary Stead said

he was proud of the way his inexperienced side bounced back to

draw their Twenty20 series with Pakistan even if it is unlikely

that many of the tourists will make his World Cup squad.

    The Black Caps fell short of clinching the series when they

were unable to chase down 179 for victory in Lahore on Saturday

and lost by nine runs to share the series 2-2.

    Stead, who will name his squad for June's World Cup in the

United States and Caribbean on Monday, was content with that

turnaround after a seven-wicket thrashing in the first match to

be completed in Rawalpindi.

    "I'm very proud of the way our team played," Stead told

reporters from Lahore.

    "We had a disappointing first hit out and where we were

soundly beaten but to bounce back from that I thought was really

pleasing and I think there's a few young guys that have

certainly increased their stocks over here.

    "Let's not forget Pakistan only two years ago were World Cup

finalists and ... for us to compete with them I think was

really, really pleasing for us."

    With nine first-choice players unavailable because of Indian

Premier League (IPL) duties and test skipper Tim Southee rested,

the touring squad was pretty much a second-string outfit.

    Promising opener Tim Robinson won his first T20 cap on the

tour and scored 51 off 36 to anchor New Zealand's innings in the

fourth match but missed Saturday's clash with a groin injury.

    Seamer Will O'Rourke also impressed in his first T20

international series with a Man of the Match performance in the

fourth match, taking 3-27 from his four overs.  

    Stead said all players in the international set-up needed to

keep working even if they missed out on the World Cup squad on

Monday given that replacements were likely to be needed at some

stage.

    "We've obviously got a number of guys in the IPL that will

either join us when they get knocked out of the IPL or join us

immediately after that when we travel to the West Indies," he

said.

    "So the guys will still be working hard. There'll be a

number of fringe players who miss selection who will want to

keep training as well just in case of injury," he said.

(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by Tom Hogue)

((Nick.Mulvenney@tr.com; +61 403 574 069;))