KEY POINTS:
LONDON - New Zealand welcome back star allrounder Jacob Oram with the battle-cry of redeeming their test series disaster in the fourth one-day cricket international against England here tonight (9.45pm NZT).
Oram was confirmed for his first appearance of the ODI series after recovering from a hamstring strain as the sides arrive at The Oval with the series poised at 1-1 with two to play.
It means bad luck for wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins who hands over the gloves to Brendon McCullum in the only change from New Zealand's 22-run win in Bristol on Saturday.
Captain Daniel Vettori said Oram's presence, as "one of the best one-day players in the world", gave the tourists an edge in the must-win match to keep their hopes of series victory intact.
"He's certainly right up there, you look at guys like (Jacques) Kallis and (Andrew) Flintoff, Jacob was ranked No 1 allrounder in the world for a while in ODI cricket," the captain said.
"You throw that into your side it makes for a great balance, and also that confidence lift it brings to the team as well."
Oram, who suffered the injury at warmups before the Twenty20 international in Manchester, got through two solid training sessions in the past two days.
In 11 ODIs against England, Oram averages 62.40 with the bat and his nine wickets have been taken at an average of 33.66 and an impressive economy rate of 3.70.
New Zealand, still clear outsiders with bookmakers, are chasing consecutive series wins in England, after their tri-series victory against the hosts and West Indies four years ago.
To do so they need to win at The Oval and Lord's, which will maintain their world ranking of No 3 which they hold by barely a decimal point over India.
England meanwhile, who dominated New Zealand in the 2-0 test series victory, could drop to seventh, below Sri Lanka if the tourists claim the series 3-1.
"We've said for a while we're a good one-day side but the performance in Durham (in the first ODI) wasn't great at all," Vettori said.
"To bounce back quickly from that, and if we can win this series it'll be an even split between the tests and one-dayers like it was back home.
"That's probably indicative of where we're at with our cricket. We've still got two games to try and win but it would go a long way to redeeming the test part of the tour."
The biggest positive for the captain was the confidence of his three pacemen Kyle Mills, Tim Southee and Mark Gillespie in Bristol as England were dismissed for 160.
Mills and Gillespie applied the early pressure before Southee ripped through the middle order with four wickets.
England have injury concerns over opening batsman Ian Bell who tweaked his right knee playing touch rugby at warmups today. Alastair Cook is on standby.
Captain Paul Collingwood said his senior paceman Ryan Sidebottom was "100 per cent fit and raring to go", suggesting he may be recalled after recent back problems.
Vettori was wary of the aggressive left-armer's return after his test form, although in six ODIs against New Zealand he's taken six wickets at 41.33.
"I'm sure Sidebottom will play if he's fit, and he adds a dimension to their side which has been difficult for us in the last six months," Vettori said.
"We've got a lot to work on if we want to keep up that momentum."
The past two days have been fine and warm in London and that is forecast to continue.
New Zealand
Daniel Vettori (captain), Jamie How, Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Jacob Oram, Daniel Flynn, Grant Elliott, Kyle Mills, Tim Southee, Mark Gillespie.
- NZPA
