KEY POINTS:
They say we really use only a fraction of our brain's capability and I would say the same for most cricketers' potential. It is not until we are faced with an extreme situation that we get anywhere near our true capabilities.
Two run chases in excess of 330 I would say was fairly extreme and - wouldn't you know it - some of our batsmen found out just what they may be capable of.
This year's Chappell-Hadlee series should have given our batsmen belief that they are capable of chasing. However, if this team is to become a world-beating outfit, that belief must extend to setting a total as well. In a run chase of huge proportions, the chasers have no option but to take chances and push to their limits and beyond.
But, when setting a total, doubt and conservativeness can rob the team of its full potential.
Good performers always maximise their strengths and minimise their weaknesses (in the Black Caps' case that means they like to chase) but sometimes the decision to bat first is the only viable option.
Apart from chasing, this team has another major strength which should be used as a strategic advantage at the World Cup - the power game of the middle order. A middle order that reads Jacob Oram, Craig McMillan, Brendon McCullum and James Franklin has a depth of power that gives this team a dynamic others cannot boast. Most importantly, it could take the pressure off generating strike rate by our top order - which should make them more consistent as well.
The standard way of conducting an ODI innings is for the top three to use the fielding restrictions at the top of the innings to get the side off to a flyer. The middle order nudges it round in the middle and then there is an almighty push in the last seven or so overs.
This is often illustrated by the run-scoring graphic, "the worm", which has a sharp spike over the first 15 overs then sags through 40 overs and then, depending on wickets in hand, will spike at the end. This is the pattern developed in the early 1990s and is still the most common sight today. However, if you were to look at the "worms" of recent scores of more than 300, that pattern has morphed into one of a gradual incline or acceleration through the innings.
It's almost as if the game has gone back to the conception of one-day cricket when run-scoring was slow and steady and then accelerates. Now the standard three-an-over and build has progressed to five-an-over and build.
To use our team to its fullest, allow Stephen Fleming and Lou Vincent to play with urgency but not abandon and then (depending on how long they last) the fireworks begin at three with Ross Taylor and just get more and more spectacular.
It will take confidence to do this when the opposition has not made it necessary before our turn at bat but that's the belief this team must develop in itself.
