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New Zealand will hold off making a final call on whether to risk Brendon McCullum in today's fourth Chappell Hadlee series ODI until this morning.
The wicketkeeper-batsman suffered a painful blow on his right shoulder early in Australia's innings en route to their 32-run win over New Zealand in Sydney.
McCullum, with a painkilling jab to deaden the discomfort, came in late in New Zealand's innings in a desperate bid to push towards victory alongside century-maker Grant Elliott.
His shoulder was x-rayed yesterday afternoon and assessments were being made last night. McCullum confirmed the shoulder was "stiff and sore".
If you fancy a bet on it, expect McCullum to play. His captain Dan Vettori reckons he will - McCullum quipped yesterday that "the skipper is always on my back" - and McCullum's determination to be there was clear yesterday.
"I'm obviously keen to play but I also have to do the sensible thing," he said yesterday.
If that meant, armed with an unfavourable medical opinion, sitting today out and being ready for a possible decider in Brisbane on Friday night, he would do so, but with gritted teeth. The lure of being part of an historic first ODI series win in Australia means they'd probably need to tie McCullum to a chair today.
Auckland wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins is with the squad and will play if McCullum is ruled out.
New Zealand's big worry was the loss of momentum the Sydney defeat will bring, even though they still lead the series 2-1.
They wanted to clinch the series on Sunday while they were on a roll.
But their bowling and fielding, so impressive in the wins at Perth and Melbourne, were below par; Australia produced their best opening stand, 135, since the World Cup final two years ago and they asked New Zealand to get more runs to win than had ever been achieved on the famous old ground.
That New Zealand, on the back of an outstanding 115 by Elliott and a bold late cameo from McCullum got as close as they did, will give them a small positive to take into today's game.
Assuming McCullum is fit, New Zealand are likely to stick with the same 11 for the fourth straight game.
Had they won in Sydney, allrounder Brendon Diamanti or young left-arm swing bowler Trent Boult might have been blooded. But this isn't the time to start getting cute.
"We know we're in a good space, we know we're playing some good cricket, and the only way we win against Australia is if we put all these components together. Unfortunately we didn't do it [in Sydney]," Vettori said.
Vettori has a big call to make today if he wins the toss. In Sydney he did what his team like doing, fielding first. It was the ideal circumstance to bat first. The pitch was good, it was a hot afternoon with a fast outfield.
Australia, unsure of themselves, would have been chasing, perhaps twitchy with the prospect of losing a second consecutive home ODI series.
Adelaide Oval is usually full of runs, with short square boundaries. New Zealand have won four of their eight games against Australia here. Vettori might find himself torn between the preferred policy and putting the onus on his batsmen to get sufficient runs batting first.
Australia are likely to introduce their fast bowling test find of the summer, Peter Siddle, for his first ODI. One thing's for sure: they won't change their latest opening combination of Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin after their bold approach significantly helped end a five-game losing streak.
An appeal for funds to go towards helping victims of the Victorian bush fires will be held during the match today.
