KEY POINTS:
The pressure is on New Zealand's top order batsmen to perform in tonight's (NZ time) Champion Trophy cricket semifinal against Australia in Mohali, India.
Apart from captain Stephen Fleming, Scott Styris and to some extent Nathan Astle, the top five need to lift their run-gathering dramatically if the
Black Caps are to advance in the tournament they won in 2000.
Lou Vincent, Peter Fulton and Hamish Marshall have cobbled together just 47 among them in seven innings up to their victory over Pakistan last week.
"If they get the opportunity (tonight) then it's a great stage for it to come right," Fleming said.
"They've done it before. It's just a case of a bit of confidence, a bit of self-belief -- the team can offer them that but they've just got to believe in themselves."
Vincent scored 3, 13 and 17 in their last three matches Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa, Fulton managed 7 against Pakistan and 2 against South Africa while Marshall scored 4 against Sri Lanka and 1 against South Africa.
With Styris out of tonight's match due to his persistent back problem and a slight hamstring twinge, and given Australia's fine form at the tournament, the spotlight falls on the top five to show more grit at the crease.
Australian captain Ricky Ponting, however, said his team would need to restrict New Zealand's big-hitting batsmen in the slog overs.
The Black Caps reached the last four after scoring 99 runs in the last 10 overs of their 51-run win over Pakistan.
"We have to look at Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori, who are dangerous hitters at the end," Ponting told Reuters.
"We came unstuck in the last Chappell-Hadlee series game we played in New Zealand in December (last year) after they got a lot of runs from the last 10 overs. We need to come up with the right strategy, right field placements to restrict those guys."
The world champions are determined to win the one major title to elude them after stumbling in the semifinals of the last two editions.
Australia recovered from a 10-run loss to West Indies to beat England and India to qualify for the semifinals.
Ponting said the recent history of meetings with New Zealand would prove an advantage to his side.
"Certainly over the last few years we've got ahead as far as results go, we've won 15 of our last 17 games," he said.
But Australia will be wary of Shane Bond if the New Zealand fast bowler overcomes a hamstring twinge to play.
Bond has an eye-catching one-day record against the world champions. In six matches he has claimed 22 wickets at an average of 10.45 and dismissed Ponting each time.
New Zealand's win-loss record against Australia when Bond is in the side is 3-3.
"Shane's got an unbelievable strike-rate in one-day cricket and a very good record against Australia," said Ponting, who will also keep a close eye on Kyle Mills.
The 27-year-old Mills has taken six wickets for 80 runs in three games in the competition.
"Mills has had a good time in the Champions Trophy and the conditions here suit his style of bowling," said Ponting.
"We've spoken about those two to get our plans intact."
Fleming is confident Bond, who has a history of back problems and now is being bothered by a hamstring, and seamer Mills, who has been nursing a knee injury, will be fit tonight.
"Shane has a very good record against Australia. Like a lot of players he wants to test himself against the best," Fleming said.
"I hope he is going to be at it once again. It is going to be an epic battle.
"I'm not just talking it up, that is what we will look forward to.
"Big tournaments are important because people tend to look and gauge the success of a side. We haven't been that good in big tournaments.
"We're looking to climb the ladder and beating Australia will go a long way towards doing that."
- NZPA