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:
While all eyes will be on the return of the recalcitrant Jesse Ryder, a few sideways glances might also be made in Brendon McCullum's direction when the West Indies complete their stop-start cricket tour of New Zealand at McLean Park in Napier today.
Ryder's blow out in Wellington after New Zealand squared the one-day series last Wednesday - an unsanctioned drinking session which saw him fined and dropped from Saturday's abandoned fourth match at Eden Park - has added to his loveable larrikin status among a forgiving public, and the consternation felt by his handlers at New Zealand Cricket.
But the form of vice-captain McCullum on the field is also starting to cause mild anxiety.
The audacious power hitter finds himself in what skipper Daniel Vettori yesterday defined as a "small trough" in his 142-match one-day international career.
McCullum and Ryder form a potentially-destructive opening partnership but so far this summer there have only been glimpses of the two-pronged torment they can inflict on new ball bowlers.
New Zealand's Twenty20 victory in Hamilton on December 28 represented the high point for the duo as they plundered 130 before being separated in the 12th over when McCullum departed for 59 - a 34-ball assault that featured a half dozen boundaries and four sixes.
McCullum, however, has not found the one-day format as fruitful as he heads into the fifth and final match, with 45 runs under his belt at an average of 15.
The bulk of that aggregate was produced when the Eden Park wicket was at its trickiest on Saturday.
McCullum made 26 off 50 balls in 64 minutes - hardly in keeping with his career strike rate of 89.75 but still an invaluable contribution as he and debutant Martin Guptill added 68 for the first wicket.
"I thought Baz (McCullum) played really well at the top of the innings. He reined himself in and played to the conditions, the ball was swinging around," explained New Zealand coach Andy Moles.
"The West Indies bowlers were a handful when they got it in the right place. Baz played an intelligent innings."
Vettori also nominated McCullum's contribution as instrumental in providing the platform for Guptill, Ross Taylor and Neil Broom to finish with a flourish - while acknowledging his wicketkeeper was battling in front of the stumps.
McCullum was not required to bat before the series opener was abandoned in Queenstown.
In Christchurch - where the West Indies won a contest reduced to 28 overs - he was caught behind for a single before the rain turned the match into a lottery.
In Wellington, McCullum was caught off a thick outside edge at third man as he sought his fourth boundary.
It was a mode of dismissal part and parcel of an aggressive approach the team condones - another example where the margins between six or out are slender.
The rub of the green is going against McCullum of late, though Vettori was confident it wouldn't last long.
"You always worry when a world class performer hasn't quite got the runs that you'd like but the flip side of that is Brendon works exceptionally hard and he has that huge desire for success," Vettori said.
McCullum has scored 2682 runs at 28.23 over his eight-year top flight career but his output has tapered off in recent series.
He averaged 65.25 at home against England last February and 34.25 on the return journey in May and just 10.66 through three innings in Bangladesh in October.
However, his strike power is never far from the surface, as the Irish discovered in July when he clubbed 166 from 135 balls in a Scotland-based Tri-Series.
McCullum at least harbours fond recollections of McLean Park, a venue where the boundaries square of the wicket are inviting.
He scored 58 from 65 balls as New Zealand and England tied a 680-run cliffhanger in February and at least showed he had the capacity to get under the West Indies' during the test there three weeks ago.
Pace bowler Daren Powell ran through the crease and chucked the ball in McCullum's direction after taking umbrage at the batsman advancing down the wicket.
Vettori, meanwhile, has no qualms about reinstating Ryder after his latest lapse.
"He has nothing to prove on the cricket field, it's all the off field stuff that he needs to improve on," the skipper said.
- NZPA
