After making it nigh impossible to beat England through a string of inadequate individual performances in cricket's Twenty20 format, New Zealand's chances of redressing the balance in the one-day series have been compromised by the extinguishing of their one shining lights.
The future of fast-medium bowler - Whangarei's Tim Southee -
was a focal point of a pallid postmortem following the Black Caps' insipid 50-run loss in the second Twenty20 slog in Christchurch last night.
Stand-in captain skipper Brendon McCullum made no bones about his desire to promote the promising 19-year-old to the one-day squad but after earnest debate between the four-man selection panel it was decided the Northern Districts' right-armer will join the under-19 World Cup squad today, as originally planned.
It could ultimately prove a self-inflicted setback to complement injuries suffered by Daniel Vettori and Jacob Oram but team manager Lindsay Crocker defended the decision to send Southee to Malaysia, where the tournament starts on February 18.
"The selectors ... believe while Tim's made some significant advances it's time for him to head off to the under-19 World Cup. They also believe whilst he's performed well it's up to the bowlers who have done the job for us in the past to front up."
Southee arguably made dramatic strides against a rampant English top order last night, taking two for 22 from four overs - the prized wicket of Kevin Pietersen for three and opener Phil Mustard for a rollicking 40.
His double intervention saw England slump to 76 for four in the ninth over but Paul Collingwood's 54 from 28 balls and Owais Shah (47) were instrumental in England posting a cast iron 193 for eight.
New Zealand's batting again failed to fire with the run chase petering out at 143 for eight.
McCullum didn't have to look hard to identify the one feel-good factor from two games that have undeniably handed England all-important momentum before the one-day series starts in Wellington on Saturday.
"I'd love to take him to the 50-over game. He's been fantastic, he's a calm bloke as well, he seems to fit into the team very well. I can't talk highly enough of his performances in the last two games."
However, post-match discussions between selectors Sir Richard Hadlee, Glenn Turner, Dion Nash and coach John Bracewell overrode McCullum's opinion.
"It's obviously disappointing to lose a guy that's in form," McCullum admitted.
