KEY POINTS:
Oh dear. Well, back to the drawing board. Weeks of experimentation, invention, explanations and counter-arguments came to a head last night when the latest incarnation of the New Zealand team were virtually vaporised by Sri Lanka in the fourth one-day international at Eden Park.
Only a week out
from the much-awaited tri-series in Australia, a New Zealand side with a tail longer than a post-office queue folded for a miserable 73 in their chase for Sri Lanka's 262, leaving the series locked at 2-2 with the decider looming on Tuesday.
It was the second-lowest ODI total by New Zealand in their 505-match history; just pipping their frightful 64 against Pakistan at Sharjah in 1985-86, but worse than their 74 at home against Australia in 1981-82, and much worse than the previous lowest against Sri Lanka - 116 at Moratuwa in 1983-84.
In fact it was so bad that the Eden Park floodlights were almost rendered unnecessary, and the crowd of 15,084 were left with plenty of time to organise alternative entertainment, having found what they expected to be a three-course meal transformed into chicken and chips.
Weakened by the loss of Daniel Vettori (ill) and James Franklin (knee) yesterday morning, New Zealand were exposed in terms of their batting reserves and forced to employ a line-up that effectively petered out at No.6.
The 189-run defeat is likely to fuel an already lively debate over John Bracewell's selection methods, particularly after Stephen Fleming returned from gardening leave to post a five-ball duck, while Nathan Astle put up his feet in Christchurch.
Brendon McCullum was brilliantly caught at the wicket; Ross Taylor, Hamish Marshall and Peter Fulton fell to lbw decisions within the space of seven overs and, when Andre Adams departed in the same manner at the start of the 14th over, New Zealand were barely registering a pulse.
The only respite came courtesy of the recalled Craig McMillan, who survived a particularly torrid time from Lasith Malinga to edge New Zealand past their lowest-ever score, and boost his own stocks ahead of Tuesday's must-win contest.
Primed to play a role as an end-of-inning specialist, McMillan instead found himself facing the music in the seventh over, at which stage his side were 25 for four and batting like drunks, and was able to hang on long enough to scratch out an unbeaten 29.
There will doubtless be much gnashing of teeth over the six lbws, but the only manifestly poor decision was awarded against Adams, who appeared unlucky to be dismissed off a Malinga yorker that was clearly missing leg.
For all that, Malinga and Chaminda Vaas were a cut above their New Zealand counterparts when it came to the business of penetration, inflicting such carnage on the hosts' top-order that there could be no hope of recovery; no place to hide.
From the moment Sanath Jayasuriya unleashed his assault on the New Zealand attack at the start of the 11th over, Sri Lanka seemed destined for a challenging total, even though the innings surged, spluttered and stalled, before firing back into life.
The left-hander exploded into action after a relatively quiet beginning, to the extent that, by the stage the 15th over had passed, he and his partner Upal Tharanga had taken the total through to 102 without loss.
Though New Zealand enjoyed something of a renaissance at this point, chiefly though the endeavours of Mark Gillespie, who rolled over both openers and out-of-form skipper Mahela Jayawardene for the addition of just one more run, the fear was that the damage had been done.
Kumar Sangakkara offered another heady contribution; this time a patient 79 off 103 balls and, while Marvan Atapattu and Chamara Kapugedera lost all traction through the middle stages, Farveez Maharoof came to party with a late flurry in the final three overs.
There were, at least, some good news stories in the field, not least the performance of the emerging Gillespie and spinner Jeetan Patel who escaped relatively unscathed.
But, with the series finale looming at Hamilton on Tuesday and the tri-series against England and Australia starting next week, there will be concerns about the containment ability of Michael Mason and Adams.
Scoreboard
NZ v Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
U Tharanga b Gillespie 22
S J'suriya c Mason b Gillespie 70
M J'wardene c Fleming b Gillepsie 0
K S'kkarac Taylor b Bond 79
M Atapattu c McCullum b Adams 34
C K'gedera not out 10
F Maharoof c Adams b Bond 21
C Vaas not out 5
Extras (4nb, 6w, 11lb) 21
Total (6 wickets, 50 overs) 262
Fall of wickets: 1-102, 2-102, 3-103, 4-194, 5-232, 6-256
Bowling: Mason 10-1-62-0,Bond 10-2-47-2, Gillespie 10-1-39-3, Adams 9-2-53-1, Patel 9-0-41-0,McMillan 2-0-9-0
New Zealand
B McCullum c S'kkara b Maharoof 17
S Fleming lbw Vaas 0
R Taylor lbw Vaas 0
P Fulton lbw Malinga 9
H Marshall lbw Vaas 3
C McMillan not out 29
A Adams lbw Malinga 1
S Bond c and b Malinga 2
M Gillespie c S'kkara b Fernando 0
J Patel b Muralitharan1
M Mason lbw Muralitharan 5
Extras (2nb, 1w, 2lb) 5
Total (all out, 26.3 overs)73
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-17, 3-17, 4-25, 5-37, 6-39, 7-49, 8-54, 9-71, 10-73
Bowling: Vaas 8-3-10-3, Malinga 8-3-14-3, Maharoof 4-0-27-1, Fernando 4-1-13-1,Muralitharan 2.3-0-7-2
Result: Sri Lanka won by 189 runs.
Series: 2-2
Umpires: G A Baxter, S J Davis.