KEY POINTS:
New Zealand bowlers will be in an unusual position tonight when the Black Caps square off against England in a do-or-die tri-series one-dayer at the Gabba.
Forced to mount rescue missions for much of the season after some abysmal form from their batting colleagues, the bowling attack is
now coming under pressure following a string of unconvincing performances through the second half of the series.
The good news yesterday was that fast-bowler Shane Bond was expected to be available for the showdown; the bad news was the overall form of a bowling unit that has conceded consecutive totals of 343, 260 for eight and 291 for five (with 10 balls remaining).
It wasn't long ago that the bowlers were not only shouldering the responsibility for dismissing the opposition, but also for making up for the shortfall of runs that invariably accompanied New Zealand's batting efforts.
Now, however, the batsmen have posted a string of impressive totals, only to find their bowlers lacking either the penetration or the economy to restrict the opposition line-up.
"It's been tough for us coming on to batting-friendly wickets, having spent all summer playing on bowler-friendly wickets," coach John Bracewell said yesterday.
"We've had a complete diet of bowler-friendly wickets for close to 12 months and the need for an adjustment will do us the world of good.
"We'll make that adjustment; our bowlers are good learners and they'll get that right. I'm confident we'll be in good form by the time the World Cup rolls around."
Bracewell was also optimistic about the availability of Bond, who was rested for one-leg of the double-header in Perth, and looked to be bowling within himself during Sunday's outing against Australia.
"We [Bond and I] have talked recently about whether he needed to up the ante a bit as we build towards the World Cup," he said. "He [Bond] wanted to push it a bit to see if he could get in back-to-back performances, and he was really pleased with the way he came through."
Bracewell has made much of the need for New Zealand to prepare for the World Cup by getting used to dealing with pressure, and will certainly have his prayers answered tonight, when the winner will progress directly to the tri-series finals, and the loser will head home.
At the end of the finals, Australia will travel to New Zealand for the three-match Chappell-Hadlee Series, the last chance for both teams to put the finishing touches on their World Cup preparations.
"Sudden death's not going to do us any harm," he said. "It's pretty much the way the World Cup's going to go, once we get into the Super Eights."
Bracewell was reluctant to speak about England's form, but said he was wary of a side that had just beaten the world champions, something his team had not achieved since 2005.
"England may feel that they've got a new lease of life," he said. To make the assignment even more difficult for Bracewell, England are expected to welcome back Michael Vaughan today, and also hope to have Jon Lewis back in the line-up - probably at the expense of Sajid Mahmood.
New Zealand
Stephen Fleming (c), Lou Vincent, Ross Taylor, Peter Fulton, Scott Styris, Craig McMillan, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori, James Franklin, Shane Bond, Mark Gillespie, Michael Mason, Jeetan Patel.
England
Michael Vaughan, Mal Loye, Andrew Strauss, Ian Bell, Ed Joyce, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Jamie Dalrymple, Jon Lewis, Sajid Mahmood, Paul Nixon, Monty Panesar, James Anderson, Ravi Bopara, Liam Plunkett, Chris Read, Chris Tremlett.
* NZ v England Brisbane 4pm today