NZ v Pakistan
Seddon Park, Hamilton, from 2pm today
New Zealand's ambition to put their strongest XI on to Seddon Park for a game they must win against Pakistan today might be scuppered by injury.
Captain Dan Vettori twinged a hamstring fielding in Tuesday night's two-wicket loss, which gave the tourists a 2-1 series lead with two to play.
Vettori is a touch and go selection today, while Jesse Ryder's damaged finger is not expected to sideline him again, after missing the loss in Napier and being rotated out of the defeat in Christchurch last Saturday.
With the World Cup less than three weeks away, Vettori's fitness for the start of that campaign must be the priority, putting a question mark over his participation today.
"Dan has played enough cricket to make the right decisions," coach John Wright said yesterday.
Assume, for a moment, all 15 cup-bound players are fit today.
The four most likely to be left out are batsmen Jamie How and Kane Williamson, spinning allrounder Luke Woodcock and seamer Hamish Bennett.
That would have a lineup with the capable Tim Southee batting at No 11, and give seven bowling options. The time for tinkering is over.
Wright made it clear yesterday he would have preferred to play the best XI from game one, which spelled out in capital letters a philosophical difference between Wright and Vettori on one hand, and the selection panel, Mark Greatbatch, Glenn Turner and Lance Cairns, on the other.
"[Playing the best XI] tends to solve a lot of problems. You get a better chance of winning, and get momentum going. Those who miss out want to take their places," Wright said.
"So I've always thought [it should be] survival of the fittest and pick your best side."
Another loss today would be New Zealand's 13th in the last 14 ODIs. Among the poorer aspects of that record is the difficulty New Zealand seem to have in putting together a game of two quality halves.
Too often, either the batting or the bowling has been below par, while the other skill has been at least decent, if not considerably better.
In Napier, the batsmen failed abjectly on the country's best batting strip; three days earlier the bowlers fell apart in the final quarter of Pakistan's innings.
No wonder, New Zealand were yesterday doing an analysis on the batting of Pakistan's hero Misbah-ul-Haq, who has eased his way serenely around New Zealand making a packet of runs with a mix of resolve and flourish. There are big lessons in the work of Misbah for New Zealand's batsmen if they're prepared to take note and are good enough.
The New Zealand players appear a disgruntled lot, too. This can come from repeated beatings.
At times like this they should be looking hard in the mirror and making some hard self-assessments instead of looking elsewhere for excuses.
The overseers of this squad are not only getting it in the neck from the public, but also their own players.
Serial tweeter Scott Styris was at it again yesterday, letting his fingers do the talking: "I thought the guys dug deep yest (sic). Because of this (insert word) rotation policy we were a bowler short."
Wright confirmed the team decision-makers are grappling with the ideal blend in the side: seven batsmen or five specialist bowlers.
"What would solve all that is if we got batters who perform ... it's that simple. Then everything will flow from that."
Pakistan are expected to field an unchanged side today. There's a surprise, after their back-to-back wins.
Rotation? It doesn't seem like they fancy it.
NZ v PAKISTAN
New Zealand: Dan Vettori (c), Martin Guptill, Jesse Ryder, Jamie How, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Kane Williamson, James Franklin, Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram, Luke Woodcock, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Tim Southee, Hamish Bennett.
Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (c), Ahmed Shezhad, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar.
