WI pride at stake against Kiwis

Saturday’s 21-run victory under lights at Jade Stadium in Christchurch has given the home side an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match duel, and their skipper, Stephen Fleming, has made no secret of his desire to keep the pressure on the Caribbean squad to ensure that his team has the psychological edge going into the three-Test series.

Having been at the helm six years ago when the Black Caps swept all five ODIs and both Tests against the West Indies on their last tour here, Fleming is especially keen to emphasise his team’s dominance over the opposition.

Yet in keeping with the New Zealand selectors’ policy of rotating players to avoid them suffering from overwork, the swift series triumph has afforded them the luxury of introducing two players who have not previously featured in this campaign against Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s men.

Opening batsman Jamie How, who played in the first two one-dayers in Wellington and Queenstown, is rested, as is left-arm pacer James Franklin, who shared the new ball with tearaway paceman Shane Bond in all three victories of the series so far.

Their places have gone to two players with contrasting careers.

Kyle Mills, a fast-medium bowler from Auckland who is no complete rabbit with the bat, returns from injury to add to his tally of 53 ODIs, while exciting young Central Districts batsman Ross Taylor gets the opportunity that many experts here have been clamouring for, especially after he scored a half-century in the domestic limited-over final against Canterbury just before the start of the West Indies tour.

Fleming has stressed that this continuing rotation is no disrespect to the opposition and he has endorsed the selectors’ policy on the condition that it does not compromise the team’s chances of taking a winning momentum into the first Test, beginning March 9 at Eden Park in Auckland, which is also the venue for the fifth and final ODI on Saturday.

West Indies head coach Bennett King was left fuming after his team failed to keep the series alive after a flying start in pursuit of a target of 277 in the third match, and it remains to be seen if his stern words will have any impact on the side for the all-day encounter at McLean Park, one of the more modest of New Zealand’s international venues.

Teams: NEW ZEALAND (from) - Stephen Fleming (capt), Nathan Astle, Lou Vincent, Peter Fulton, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Hamish Marshall, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori, Kyle Mills, Shane Bond, Michael Mason, Jeetan Patel.

WEST INDIES (from) - Shivnarine Chanderpaul (capt), Chris Gayle, Daren Ganga, Runako Morton, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Wavell Hinds, Dwayne Smith, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin, Rawl Lewis, Ian Bradshaw, Fidel Edwards, Deighton Butler, Jerome Taylor.