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Belligerent batsman Jesse Ryder has gone from "seeing it like a football" to kicking a soccer ball around at training - an indication the New Zealand opener is winning his battle to be fit for tomorrow's fourth one-day cricket international against England here at McLean Park.
The sight
of Ryder dribbling and passing on the training ground today has heartened team management who are keen for one of their few in-form batsmen to be available to hopefully complete a series victory before heading to Christchurch for the final match on Saturday.
Ryder, who rolled his left ankle while making 23 in Auckland on Saturday, will have to pass a medical shortly before play starts at 11am but it seems likely he will partner Brendon McCullum at the top of the order.
New Zealand's latest opening partnership prospered in Wellington and Hamilton - where a record 165 runs were plundered - though they combined for just seven in the six-wicket loss at Eden Park.
Ryder's series scores of 31, 79 not out and 23 illustrate how important it is he feature on a ground with invitingly short boundaries square of the wicket.
England's bowlers have certainly had to reappraise their plans to the left-hander, particularly after his assault on Seddon Park.
"He's got a fantastic eye for the ball," pace bowler Stuart Broad admitted, before outlining the plan to keep Ryder in check.
"We were guilty of trying to chase his wicket (in Hamilton) when we were trying to bounce him a bit but now we've settled into our areas.
"If you bowl your best ball and hit the splice above the top of off (stump) no batter in the world can hit it (for four)."
Mindful of the fragile batting performance in Auckland - apart from Jacob Oram's 88 - the New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori acknowledged the top and middle order would have to atone to avoid facing a decider this weekend.
"It (batting) was obviously our strength in the first two games. The team have talked long and hard about winning the game here as opposed to going to a sudden death where that would mean England would have all the momentum."
Peter Fulton is the most scrutinised batsman, his four off 25 balls in Auckland the low point of a summer that has seen him struggle since his last visit to McLean Park.
In December he scored 83 against Bangladesh and an innings of similar authority could be needed to stave off the challenge of promising Northern Districts' left hander Daniel Flynn.
Fulton will likely be persevered with, as Vettori suggested the only selection issue was deciding between perennial 12th man, spinner Jeetan Patel, and his Wellington teammate Iain O'Brien.
England are not expected to make any alterations from the line-up that revived their chances of winning three consecutive ODI series.
"We put in a good performance in the last game and it'll give us a bit of extra confidence going into the next one," skipper Paul Collingwood said, drawing a parallel with England's surprising march to last year's Tri Series across the Tasman.
After a dismal start against Australia and New Zealand, England won their last pool games against their rivals, eliminated the Black Caps and then upset the world champions 2-0.
"It's a very similar situation - we're going into every game as if it's a final. Last year we were a hell of a lot lower than this - we were really in the depths.
"We've had a couple of disappointing games here and the way we bounced back from (in Auckland), there are similarities."
- NZPA
