Cricket: Axe is poised over Black Caps

Hamish Marshall struggled with Brett Lee's pace. Picture / Getty Images

One last chance.

That's the likely theme for a handful of New Zealand players this morning as they ponder Saturday's abysmal performance against Australia, and the extra significance of Wednesday's Chappell-Hadlee re-match at Wellington.

The side who were hoping to bounce back from last month's 4-0 series defeat in South Africa instead went into freefall at Eden Park, losing by a staggering 147 runs after another frightful effort from the top-order batsmen.

Set 253 to win, New Zealand looked unlikely to reach three figures for most of the innings, eventually succumbing for just 105 (their sixth lowest total in history) with 22.2 overs still to be bowled.

So bad was the reply that New Zealand were at one stage 33 for six in the 13th over, at which point it looked as though the Eden Park lights would be made redundant, and the 21,800-strong crowd would be left with a hole in their evening plans.

The only New Zealand players to emerge from the accident site with their reputations intact were bowlers Daniel Vettori, Kyle Mills and Scott Styris, and recalled all-rounder Chris Cairns.

In fact, New Zealand would have been humiliated even further had it not been for Cairns, who was desperately unlucky when he bowled, and was the only batsman to cope with the pressure exerted by the world's No 1 team.

Not only will New Zealand need to perform a small miracle now to keep the series alive at the Cake Tin, but so will at least four of the present squad of 13 - at least if they hope to convince coach John Bracewell of their long-term prospects.

By far the most vulnerable are the Marshall twins Hamish and James, both of whom appeared clueless on Saturday against the pace of Brett Lee, who was the chief architect of New Zealand's capitulation.

Hamish Marshall continued his dire form when he played on to Lee in the fifth over, a dismissal that highlighted not only his lack of accurate foot movement, but also the fact that he has had a charmed run over the past couple months.

But if Hamish seemed crestfallen over his dismissal it was even worse for James, who, in the space of just five balls put one in the mind of a small marsupial caught in the high-beam of a fast-approaching vehicle.

Clearly spooked by the pace of Lee, his last act of the game was to duck a delivery from the speedster that pitched on a good length and cannoned into the back of his knee, presenting umpire Aleem Dar with his easiest decision of the day.

If you were a New Zealand supporter at that stage, it was bit like watching a horror film while crouching terrified behind the back of the living room sofa; unable to watch but unable to resist the occasional peek.

For all that, possibly the daftest aspect of New Zealand's batting was the sight of Craig McMillan having a running battle with the crowd seated beside the sightscreen at the Sandringham Rd end, as if it were them and not Lee causing all the problems.

Another batsman living on borrowed time, McMillan complained about his line of sight before he even received a ball from Lee, and nine deliveries later was seen stalking off the park, muttering to himself and looking pointedly at the crowd.

As for Franklin, the left-armer might have improved his batting, but his bowling appeared far too attractive to the Australians on Saturday, as it often does when he cannot find favourable conditions for swinging the ball.

The only other problem for Bracewell is trying to find replacements should he elect to ring the changes, given New Zealand's well-documented lack of depth, and the equally well-documented softness of the domestic competition.

But he is not without options.

One solution might involve the promotion of Brendon McCullum, another could see the introduction of Craig Cumming, Jesse Ryder or Peter Fulton, and there's also a case for playing Chris Martin ahead of Franklin.