KEY POINTS:
Having seen their test ranking slip to eighth, New Zealand won't be impressed to find their ODI standing is officially down to fifth.
Then again, the worth of the International Cricket Council standings is open to question. In most cases, they are more a guide than a pinpoint accurate reflection of the merits of the countries in the two forms of the game.
A year ago, New Zealand were second to Australia on the ODI table and challenging for the top spot.
However Pakistan's 3-0 win over the West Indies in Abu Dhabi last month nudged them one point above New Zealand and India's thumping of England before the Mumbai terror attacks cut that series short put them third, not helping the Kiwi cause.
Still they should go into the five-game ODI series against the eighth-ranked West Indies, starting in Queenstown tomorrow, in good heart.
They have won 10 of 15 ODIs this year - the West Indies have won five of 19 - and their record against the tourists is solid, 18 wins, 23 losses in 46 games - but of more relevance, they lost 16 of their first 21 meetings, mostly when the West Indies were dominating the world game.
As with the two tests, the West Indies' problem is that their batting is overly-reliant on three senior players, of whom captain Chris Gayle looms as the greatest threat to New Zealand's bowlers.
He followed a match-saving 197 in the second test at Napier with a crunching 67 off 41 balls - coupled with taking 25 off opposing captain Dan Vettori's solitary over in the tie-breaker at Eden Park on Boxing Day.
Ramnaresh Sarwan, out of sorts in the tests, found some touch with a smart 53 at Hamilton on Sunday when New Zealand levelled the Twenty20 series, and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, while more suited to the five-day version, is an influential figure.
But Gayle is the key, a point New Zealand's senior new ball bowler Kyle Mills acknowledged yesterday.
"He's probably the most in-form batsman in world cricket at the moment," Mills said. "He's got a lot of confidence up and he's hitting the ball really well."
But New Zealand, in best Baldrick fashion, are not without their cunning plans. They noted he fell to a slower ball from newcomer Ewen Thompson at Hamilton in the second over of the West Indies innings. There's also a belief that those deliveries with pace taken off can trouble him.
"He's a guy who likes the ball coming on to the bat at a consistent pace. He's got a wide stance and if we can undo him with variations and field placements, maybe that could be the unravelling of him," Mills said.
Gayle has hit 18 ODI hundreds and averages an impressive 40.06; Chanderpaul goes at 40.84 over his 238 ODIs; and Sarwan averages a fine 44.17 from 136 matches.
But the averages of all three against New Zealand drop, Gayle and Chanderpaul to the mid-20s, although Sarwan's 41.83 is still notable.
There are new faces in the West Indian squad for the one-dayers, young men looking to make their way, but short on experience. In Mills' book, that's another reason for putting the focus on cutting Gayle down to size.
"They haven't got much [batting] depth and they rely on him big time.
"If you come across a side with a guy playing so well, if you can get him out early it deflates the rest of the team, and getting Gayle early should expose their middle and lower order."
Mills, New Zealand's most successful ODI wicket taker this year with 19 in 13 games, has had an up-and-down few months but he's now preparing for the form of the game in which he has taken an impressive 129 wickets from 87 ODIs.
"I feel like I'm bowling reasonably well," he said.
