KEY POINTS:
A day after the West Indies had been beaten - just - in the final ODI at Napier, thoughts began turning towards the next assignment for New Zealand.
They head to Australia for the Chappell Hadlee series this month, with the opening ODI in Perth on February 1. The New Zealand top brass had talked of the need to win the West Indies series to ensure they took some momentum with them into the Australian series.
So job done on that front, although had the West Indies won the rain-affected Duckworth Lewis finale in Napier, New Zealand would have compartmentalised that series.
The line of thinking would have been that they are about to play in different conditions against vastly superior opposition, who possess reasonable to formidable strength in most departments, as opposed to the Windies and their reliance on a small group of players to do the job.
Over the next few days, the national selectors will digest numbers, take in two more rounds of State Shield cricket and make their plans. All contenders are expected to be playing State cricket, the recovering allrounder Jacob Oram and leading new ball bowler Kyle Mills possible exceptions.
Don't expect any surprises when the squad, tipped to be 13, is named next week. Keeping players active in Twenty20 cricket back home rather than sitting in the stands in Australia is deemed more beneficial.
Broadly speaking, the selectors, Glenn Turner, John Wright and Dion Nash, will have three areas in mind, where New Zealand's present situations vary.
1: The top four
The successful launching of Martin Guptill's international career was a boon to New Zealand.
His 122 not out in the fourth ODI at Eden Park, and the way he handled the circumstances of his promotion from No 3 to opening - thanks to Jesse Ryder's ban for another drunken escapade - bode well and suggest a strong, committed mind in the 22-year-old Aucklander.
He replaced Jamie How, who struggled to buy a run at times during the West Indies series.
A top four of Brendon McCullum, Ryder, Guptill and Ross Taylor is brimful of rich strokeplay, and the ability to get runs fast against the new ball.
This presupposes that the selectors will stick with vice-captain and wicketkeeper McCullum at the start of the innings. They will in Australia, although Guptill's arrival offers a genuine opening alternative without having to go looking for a makeshift option if things go awry.
Runs dried up for a time for McCullum, and the manner of some of his dismissals - and Ryder's - was frustrating.
The pair tend towards the boom or bust philosophy. When it comes off it can be spectacular; but at times, having done the hard work, they played shots to get out which will have had senior, important heads being banged against walls.
Guptill's century took only 135 balls; his 43 in Napier 39 balls. In Napier, in particular, he didn't appear to be scoring especially fast. That he did so using sound cricket strokes should have offered food for thought for some of his teammates.
With encouraging signs that Taylor is settling into the No 4 role, with increased responsibility seeming to sit well with him, expect that quartet to do the honours throughout the Australian trip.
2: The middle order
Not so clear cut. There are serious questions over the merits of Daniel Flynn's place in the one-day side.
He was a strong performer at No 3 in the two tests against the West Indies, but No 5 in the ODI team doesn't feel right. He got only 48 runs in four innings, albeit coming to the crease in a mix of situations requiring adaptability.
Flynn needs plenty of overs and he can accumulate quickly once in, as he's proved for Northern Districts.
Coming in with time starting to press doesn't look the right fit for him, and yet there's no place for him higher up at present.
Neil Broom has just got a taste of things, and did well at Eden Park with 24 from 17 balls, which was just the ticket that day, and exactly what he'd been brought in to do. He doesn't need much time to start firing.
Grant Elliott can go at run-a-ball rate, although he's no dasher, more a nurdler of the ball. Vettori rates him as a useful medium pacer to get through a few overs.
Then there's Jacob Oram, for whom fingers are crossed he will be over his latest injury battle, this time a persistent calf strain.
Oram's lack of batting going into Australia is a concern. He is rated the world's No 1 ODI allrounder and his bowling can be demanding and economical. Will he be ready with the bat on a meagre buildup? And is there an obvious backup?
Step forward James Franklin, whose batting can be punishing and his left-arm bowling would be handy, although a hamstring niggle has kept him from the crease in Wellington's last two shield games.
3: The fast-medium bowling
Mills has a lock on the No 1 spot. He is up to fourth on the world ODI bowling table behind only Vettori, Australian Nathan Bracken and Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. He was in good form against the West Indies and will be a key figure.
Both Tim Southee and Mark Gillespie had bright patches against the West Indies. Equally, both took some poundings when they were, respectively, too full and too short.
Are they being challenged? Not particularly, although a fully fit Franklin would help, and lengthen the batting order.
