KEY POINTS:
The last time New Zealand played an ODI in Hamilton they handed out a third serious dose of humpty to the Australians in the space of five days.
Okay, it was a one-wicket job with three balls up their sleeve - but it sailed off the excitement register. Ten times the ball sailed into the delirious crowd that heady night as New Zealand completed a stunning 3-0 sweep.
The win came courtesy of spectacular deeds by Craig McMillan, in his finest two hours for his country, Brendon McCullum and Peter Fulton.
For the second time in three days they hunted down 340-plus to clip the Aussies. Life was rosy in New Zealand's cricket yard as they counted the days to the World Cup.
There is a bounce in New Zealand's step again as they put their two Twenty20 losses behind them and chase a 2-0 ODI series lead against England today. That advantage would put them in a strong position to wrap up the rubber and give themselves a resounding fillip ahead of the test series.
"Whenever you have those sorts of games in the memory bank, guys can fall back on them," New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said yesterday. "Brendon and Peter have good memories of this ground. For the bowlers it might be a little different. But it was one of our better wins and a lot of guys will use that as motivation."
Vettori, talking of his home ground, suspects the pitch today will have reasonable pace in it, more so than in Wellington on Saturday, when New Zealand handled conditions far better than England. He reiterated his belief that batting first, all things being equal, is his preferred ODI option. But New Zealand's record chasing a target is superior to setting one. The boundaries are not huge at Seddon Park and the outfield is fast.
The tonic the Black Caps gave themselves in Wellington did not surprise England.
"They're third in the world (in ODI rankings) and there's a reason why they're up there," England batsman Owais Shah said yesterday.
"We know it was a poor performance by our team, but it's just one game, one bad day at the office and we can put that right."
Not if Vettori and his men have their way. The New Zealand skipper talked yesterday of maintaining standards set in Wellington. He expects England to hit back hard today.
"It's not just a case of turning up trying to win it, it's actually about being forthright; knowing if we get 2-0 up will make a huge difference to the rest of the series," Vettori said.
The words of England coach Peter Moores might also inspire New Zealand. "They probably played near the top of their game while we played near the bottom of ours," he said of the Wellington match, which New Zealand won comprehensively by six wickets.
Michael Mason or Paul Hitchcock might replace offspinner Jeetan Patel if New Zealand suspect there's pace in the pitch. England must think hard about returning Twenty20 hotshot Dimitri Mascarenhas to the side. New Zealand are a stride ahead going into today, but there's not much in it.
