KEY POINTS:
In-form batsman Jamie How will be under pressure to redeem himself in Sydney tonight after receiving mild censure from his skipper following the seven-wicket loss at Adelaide.
How batted sweetly in South Africa in his comeback to the national side but found himself treading water during a painstaking 59-ball 20 on Friday.
His difficulties were masked somewhat by the ever-impressive Brendon McCullum at the other end but there is little merit in taking 22 balls to get off the mark in one-day cricket, and even less merit in going out as soon as you start to roll.
While Daniel Vettori acknowledged a supporting role was needed for McCullum after losing Lou Vincent, How needed to show more urgency.
"I think if he sits back and reflects on that innings he would have liked to have turned over the strike a bit more," Vettori said. "We were just lucky Brendon was playing so well that it enabled us to go at five and a half runs an over while Jamie was giving himself a chance to settle. But like I said, we need to have the ability to turn the strike over."
Having said that, Vettori admitted New Zealand were still in a great position after 30 overs and should have pushed on to at least 280 and ended up close to 30 runs from a "par score".
"But we let ourselves down, purely through a loss of wickets," he said. "Every time you lose wickets, you lose momentum and it's harder for that new batsman to get up to speed."
Ricky Ponting, too, thought his side would be facing a far more rigorous test of their batting ability.
"We did a great job to keep them to that total. After 30 overs, I looked at the board and I think they were two for 149. We usually go on a ratio of doubling your total after 30 overs if you've got wickets in hand. For us to restrict them to just another 100 may have won us the game.
"Then Gilly [Adam Gilchrist] came out and decided he was still in Twenty20 mode from the other night. He made a flying start and made batting for the rest of us pretty easy."
Ah yes, Gilly.
You could say New Zealand adopted a novel approach to their 'death' bowling problems by never getting into a position where they had to bowl at the death, but that would detract from another Gilchrist special - and in truth, the bowling wasn't too bad.
Gilchrist's ridiculous 50 paved the way for Ponting to finish the job.
Ponting's 24th one-day international century was "clinical" and achieved in as many balls.
But it was Gilchrist's early pyrotechnics that caught everybody's attention, none more stunned than Kyle Mills and Mark Gillespie principal victims of the onslaught.
Gilchrist's fast and furious 50 came off 26 balls and, although he perished soon after, it meant Ponting and Michael Clarke never had to concern themselves about the run rate.
"Gilchrist came out and obviously had that plan of belligerence," Vettori said. "He played exceptionally well.
"He played some great shots and got away with stuff but overall it was a brutal innings and took the game away from us in the first 10 overs."
Vettori was reluctant to point the finger at his bowlers, particularly Mills - who was going at 10 an over in his first spell - as he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"Those guys have been doing a good job for us. Kyle Mills is coming off a man of the series in South Africa where he picked up nine or 10 wickets in the series.
"I think you really have to look at the way Gilchrist played. It was pretty fantastic and pretty brutal so I won't lay all the blame on my bowlers, I'll just sit back and admire the innings."
He admired Ponting's knock for different reasons.
"It was just a clinical innings.
"He came in after Gilchrist and Hayden had made such a great start and he didn't have to force the issue at any time.
"When Ponting's in that sort of space or that sort of mood he's pretty clinical and I don't think we had a chance all day against him."
The Australian skipper found himself almost surplus to discussion following the match. At the conclusion of his press call he observed, jokingly, that nobody had asked him a single question about his 100.
He can blame Gilly for that.
