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KEY POINTS:
New Zealand do not need to reinvent the wheel as they eye a rare Rose Bowl women's one-day series success against Australia in Wellington today.
Rather, coach Gary Stead agrees the White Ferns' hopes of beating the reigning world champions in a series for the first time since 1998 hinge on the nuts and bolts issues.
Improved run production and tighter bowling at the top of the Australian innings have been targeted by Stead as areas needing remedial work.
Australia enter the fifth match at the Basin Reserve with all the momentum after winning the last two matches in Hamilton in style to force a decider.
New Zealand stole an early march on their transtasman rivals by
winning the first two games in Whangarei before Australia cleaned up the next two by margins of 104 runs and 44 runs.
Their form in Hamilton was compelling, with scores of 258 for eight and 307 for four proving too much for the White Ferns, who have struggled to match the tourists' rich batting form.
That is underlined by the fact that only two New Zealanders, skipper Haidee Tiffen and Amy Satterthwaite, have posted half-centuries while Australians have reached the mark on eight occasions during the series.
More pertinently, Australia took a stranglehold on the previous two games after opening stands of 148 and 121 by Alex Blackwell and Shelley Nitschke then Nitschke and Leah Poulton.
Stead was pleased with the increased output of his batsmen in the fourth match in Hamilton on Sunday when the White Ferns tallied 263, something he hopes hints at more to come tomorrow.
"Even though we lost that match I feel we got some momentum back on the batting side of things," Stead said.
"We have two evenly matched teams and it will come down to who performs best on the day.
"They have had some big partnerships in this series that have turned games and that is an area we haven't really converted yet.
"We've had a lot of 30-40 run partnerships which are not enough for you to win games consistently.
"Now we need someone in the top five to really kick on and get a big one to anchor an innings around," Stead said.
He also wants sharper penetration from his new ball bowlers to keep the free-scoring Australians in check in the first half of their innings.
Stead has shuffled his attack throughout the series, as he gives serious game time to all his bowlers ahead of the World Cup in Australia next month.
"We took early wickets in Whangarei which put them under pressure but in Hamilton we did not consistently put the ball in the right areas."
Stead has been very happy with what he has seen in the series to date but he believes the White Ferns have plenty of improvement left in them.
The weather forecast for the capital is not promising, with drizzle followed by persistent rain.
SQUADS
New Zealand (from): Haidee Tiffen (captain), Aimee Mason, Suzie Bates, Nic Browne, Abby Burrows, Sophie Devine, Lucy Doolan, Sara McGlashan, Beth McNeill, Katey Martin, Rachel Priest, Kate Pulford, Amy Satterthwaite, Sarah Tsukigawa.
Australia (from): Karen Rolton (captain), Alex Blackwell, Sarah Andrews, Jessica Cameron, Leonie Coleman, Lauren Ebsary, Rene Farrell, Jodie Fields, Delissa Kimmince, Shelley Nitschke, Erin Osborne, Ellyse Perry, Leah Poulton, Emma Sampson, Lisa Sthalekar.
- NZPA
