KEY POINTS:
Stephen Fleming was caught between a rock and a hard place yesterday as he ran his rule over New Zealand's controversial selection strategy.
On one hand, the Kiwi skipper denied his side were compromising their performance by resting front-line players for development reasons, reasoning that winning remains a priority in the run-up to the World Cup.
But pressed further, Fleming said he supported coach John Bracewell's Theory of Rotation and believed the dreadful 189-run loss suffered on Saturday night at Eden Park needed to be seen in terms of the "bigger picture".
His comments came shortly after New Zealand had been humiliated for 73 in the fourth one-day international against Sri Lanka, leaving the series hanging on tomorrow's decider at Hamilton.
Asked if he was beginning to doubt his coach's plan, Fleming said while the pounding was hard to accept, he had faith in the strategy and could see it paying a dividend in the long term.
"It's a tough question on the back of one of our heaviest losses but the bigger picture is still more important; getting guys peaking in terms of fitness for Australia, the Chappell-Hadlees and World Cup," he said.
"It's got to be about a squad mentality. If we played all our guys right through and then lost a bunch at the Chappell-Hadlee stage, there'd be some questions asked. It's a double-edged sword."
Fleming said talks were continuing within the team management on the likely best combination for the top order and tomorrow's line-up should offer an early insight into that ongoing debate.
Nathan Astle, after being "rested" for Saturday's match, will return for the showdown; the first occasion in which he, Fleming, Brendon McCullum and young tyro Ross Taylor have played together in the series.
While McCullum is expected to retain his position at the top of the innings, it could be that either Fleming or Astle slot in at No 4 in order to guard against the possibility of another collapse.
"I've enjoyed opening but looking at how Ross plays and Nath plays, we've got to make sure we get that combination right, and that's something we're discussing," he said.
"My preference has been to open. I like being out there at the start but I'm also aware that Nath's a good starter and Brendon McCullum's there as well.
"If it doesn't come off [at the top of the innings], I like the idea of senior players coming in to stop the rot, which seems to be a trend the team's developing."
As for tomorrow's day-nighter, Fleming said the one plus about the contest was that it was now a final and New Zealand would receive an early chance to test themselves under extra pressure.
"On one hand, we're downcast about what happened in this match but, on the other hand, we've got to pick ourselves up for the must-win game in Hamilton.
"That's the one positive for us; the fact that we're involved in a final.
"If we can play a few more of them this year, then I think we'll be pretty happy."
Fleming said it was easy to be swamped by the sheer magnitude of Saturday's loss, when in actual fact the team was playing well at times, as demonstrated by its world ranking at No 3 and its recent form.
"You've got to keep in mind that we've won two games in this series and that we won two of our Champions Trophy games as well, so it's not like we're constantly being outplayed.
"We're doing pretty well when the pitches are fresh but performances like this are the worrying ones, when the pitches are a little bit better and we're not doing the job. That's when we feel a bit alarmed."
The low is so low
New Zealand's five lowest ODI scores since their first game, against Pakistan in Christchurch, in 1973.
* 64 v Pakistan Sharjah, 1985-86
* 73 v Sri Lanka Auckland, 06-07
* 74 v Aust Wellington, 1981-82
* 74 v Pakistan Sharjah, 1990
* 94 v Aust Christchurch, 1989-90
