nzherald.co.nz has live scoring of today's fifth and final one-dayer between the Black Caps and West Indies from 12pm.
KEY POINTS:
Chris Gayle aims to sign off the West Indies tour of New Zealand with a flourish in Napier today.
The captain and dominant personality of the group has been the main drawcard throughout the tour. Playing the match-deciding innings in the fifth and deciding ODI would be the ideal signoff for the tall Jamaican with the thunderous bat.
The last time he was in Napier, for the second test before Christmas, his 197 saved the test for the West Indies, and helped them share the series.
"Yes, I've been in good form, but the best thing is to finish on a high," he said yesterday. "Hopefully I can continue from where I left off here."
And at Eden Park last Saturday, before the rain which has dogged this tour, ruined the match, New Zealand might have been starting to feel slightly twitchy. Despite having hit a strong 275 for four on the back of
Martin Guptill's splendid 122 not out on debut, the West Indies had raced to 64 for none in only 10.3 overs, chasing a reduced 235 in 40 overs, and Gayle sailing along on 46.
New Zealand are confident that given a full 50 overs each, they can prove themselves superior. Shorten it and the threat of being strong-armed out of the match by Gayle increases.
Only one game out of four has been completely rain-free, New Zealand winning by seven wickets in game three at Wellington last week. The West Indies' win in the second match was a rain-shortened Duckworth Lewis affair, won with a ball to spare by the tourists.
This is now a one-off game. The last time the West Indies had one of them, US$20 million was at stake. Perhaps understandable then that Gayle, with a slow smile, called today "just another game of cricket".
Both teams will be keen to win, partly to finish a tour when there hasn't been much between the teams - the test and Twenty20 legs were drawn - but also because they'll want some confidence for their next assignments.
New Zealand head to Australia before the end of the month for the five-match Chappell Hadlee series; the West Indies host an England team in leadership disarray next month.
"Winning makes such a difference to a side, whatever the format is," New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said yesterday. "A team feels good about itself and confident about their game. If we win the guys will take that to Australia, if we don't there will probably be doubts lingering, going into one of the hardest places in the world to play."
New Zealand's record in Napier in ODIs looks good at a glance - played 29, won 17 - but a closer look reveals they won the first eight, starting in 1983, and it's a 9-9 win-loss split over the last 21.
The McLean Park pitch is hard and should offer plenty of runs.
New Zealand will leave out either offspinner Jeetan Patel or fast-medium Mark Gillespie.
Vettori admitted a quandary on what to do should he win the toss today. He knows New Zealand are regarded as a better chasing team, but reckons it to be a bat-first pitch, which might slow down later in the day.
"We've done that a couple of times in the past and been successful. That's my preference but you look at a one-off game and maybe the knowledge of us as a chasing team is the better option."
And Vettori hopes Jesse Ryder will bounce back strongly from his alcohol-related dramas last week and subsequent dropping for the Eden Park game.
"I hope he sticks to his natural game," Vettori said.
"He doesn't have anything to prove on the field; it's the off-field stuff he needs to improve on. He's been a pretty good performer in the short time he's played for New Zealand."
