KEY POINTS:
Lou Vincent is batting for his immediate ODI future in the final two games of the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy.
Aside from a soft century against Canada before he was invalided out of the World Cup, Vincent has failed to produce a meaningful knock for New Zealand since his unbeaten
73 in the first game of the previous Chappell-Hadlee Trophy.
Since then he has accumulated just 176 runs (101 of them against Canada) in nine innings. Throw in a golden duck in last week's Twenty20 international and you have a player seriously out of nick.
On Friday, Vincent's brief innings had an air of desperation and while there is an element of misfortune when you carve out to third man, it was no great surprise to see him leave early.
Form slumps are nothing new to Vincent: his career has been a series of peaks and troughs.
Getting dropped is a feeling familiar to him also, which is why tonight's match at the Sydney Cricket Ground shapes as pivotal.
"It's always a concern when a guy's going through a lean patch," his captain Daniel Vettori said. "It's probably been a little bit extended from the second test match [against South Africa] through to here.
"We know Lou's got a little bit of a history of that but he can bounce back pretty well and has a good track record in Australia. We're counting on that and I'm sure he can be a match-winner for us in this series."
Waiting in the wings is Peter Fulton, a racing certainty to be brought back into the squad for the Bangladesh series after recovering from knee surgery. Vincent replaced Fulton in the 15-man test squad that recently tourned South Africa.
Fulton will likely slot into No 3, meaning Jamie How will push for a place as opener alongside Brendon McCullum. Although How didn't cover himself in glory with his sluggish 20 off 59 balls, he shared in a partnership of 99 for the second wicket and is coming off a good tour to South Africa.
The other option would be to drop Vincent to No 6 or 7 where his bunt-and-run style could be quite effective in the later overs. That, however, would be harsh on Mathew Sinclair whose struggles against Australia continued at the Adelaide Oval but he was something of a revelation in South Africa where he demonstrated he was able to score quickly at the death.
If it came down a 50-50 choice between the two, Vincent's superior fielding might be the swaying factor. Coach John Bracewell used to use Hamish Marshall's skills at backward point as justification for his ongoing selection in the team, even when his scores suggested he should have been dropped.
