KEY POINTS:
Jeetan Patel must play. He simply must play against Sri Lanka. Sure, the pitch in Grenada was slower than is expected at Sabina Park in Jamaica, and the New Zealanders feel Sri Lanka can be exposed by pace - but surely the way Patel has bowled warrants respect as a horse for all courses.
He was used at difficult times in the game against Australia and responded well. Fleming can use him in a number of roles and should by now back him.
Patel means Vettori can bowl his overs through the middle, which is a role he favours. It puts Scott Styris under pressure to stand up with the ball but Styris is a player who responds to pressure.
Patel bowls well to left handers and key men in the Sri Lankan team are lefties. Most of all, he has the character that seems to handle pressure well and semifinals and finals are full of that.
On the point of bowling well to lefties, I feel the Black Caps missed a trick by not giving Chris Martin a run against Australia. He is constantly touted as a bowler who bowls well to lefties and I for one - being a leftie - can vouch for that.
If there is the bounce and pace in the Sabina Park pitch that has been promised, then Martin is the man perfectly suited to take the crucial early scalps of Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga and Kumar Sangakkara.
It's easy to make this statement in retrospect of what happened against Australia and I'm not one who really supports dropping players after a kangaroo mauling, but it is hard to bring a bowler like Martin in fresh to a semifinal and so we will never know.
The game against Australia was for purely academic reasons, and all the talk was it provided an ideal chance to measure up against the probable final opponent and tournament favourite.
So what was learned? Perhaps it was that the Black Caps measured up all right - right up to Australia's ankles.
Okay, two key bowlers were missing; Oram and Bond. Bond was laid up in his room leaking from both ends - better that happen in Grenada than in the team hotel in Jamaica. But, quite frankly, the absence of Bond and the steady Oram should not lead to an onslaught of such proportions.
Fleming can walk away with an experience in damage control which could be crucial should they get past Sri Lanka, but mostly he should walk away from this match with a head full of unanswered questions as to how he can control this Australian batting lineup.
One of those answers is Patel and another is to back Styris with the ball.
How to beat Australia is not such an easy question to answer. Perhaps it's the same answer you give to someone facing a bully - confront them.
In this case, confront them in a clever manner because the bully that is Australia will not back down.
So Fleming and his cricket brain is the only way New Zealand can beat Australia. That, and the law of averages that govern the game of cricket - surely, it's time Australia had a bad day.
New Zealand just has to be there and put in a good enough performance when they do.
