New Zealand vs Sri Lanka Act V takes centre-stage when the two teams battle it out in the fifth ODI in Dunedin on Friday.
The Kiwis lead the seven-match series 2-1 – the third one-day international was abandoned – and a victory in the 5th one-dayer will ensure they cannot lose this series against Sri Lanka.
New Zealand showed just how deep and well they bat, especially in their home conditions, in the previous match, chasing down 277 easily enough, despite losing early wickets.
Kane Williamson was again the star man for New Zealand, showing once again why he is currently one of the best batsmen in the world with a terrific hundred.
After the likes of Williamson, Grant Elliott and Corey Anderson did their bits with the bat, Luke Ronchi showed his own finishing skills with a quickfire 15-ball 32 to win New Zealand the match with 11 balls to spare.
"We were a little behind losing three relatively early wickets, but then the way Grant and Kane went about things was good, and obviously Corey and Luke at the end," said New Zealand coach Mike Hesson looking back at the victory in the fourth ODI.
"It's nice to win games when you're under the pump and that's something we pride ourselves on. We were under pressure through different stages and I thought we fronted up well.
"We're going to have a few chases in the next few months, and we are going to be in pressure situations, I thought the way we got through it was very pleasing."
Sri Lanka would have been relatively pleased with their batting performance in that particular match, even if their innings ended in a hurry; but yet again they had to rely on their big three – Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan – to score the bulk of the runs.
If not for the above three, Sri Lanka might not have been even competitive in the New Zealand tour, and the worry remains that they are way too reliant on their superstar batting trio.
The Lanka batsmen will not have to worry about the pace of Adam Milne for the next couple of matches, though, with the fast bowler ruled out with a side strain.
"He won't play this game but he's scrubbed up pretty well," added Hesson. "We're being quite cautious with it so but he'll start bowling before the next game -- we'll probably have him ready for the last game in the series.
"We've got five quicks and will look to rotate them around. Adam's had a couple of games already and he's looking good from a skill perspective, so four or five days on the sideline is not a bad thing. We'll bring him back when he's ready, but not before."
Kyle Mills is in contention for a place in the playing XI after a groin problem, while Trent Boult will also hope to make it to the lineup. Sri Lanka, however, will again have to do without Lasith Malinga, with the bowler still not deemed fit enough to play an international game.
Where to Watch Live
The 5th ODI match is scheduled for a 11 am local time (3.30 am IST, 10 pm GMT (Thursday) start with no live coverage on TV in India. Watch the match live in the UK on Sky Sports 2 or via live streaming online on Sky Go. Viewers in New Zealand can catch the match live on Sky Sport or live stream on Sky Go NZ.
Audience in the US can catch the game on ESPN while the match can also be live streamed on Watch ESPN. Viewers in Australia can catch the match on Fox Sports while the game can also be watched online via live streaming on Fox Sports Live.
Audience in the Middle East and North Africa can watch the action live on OSN Sports or via a live stream on OSN Play. South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa viewers will be able to catch the game live on SuperSport or SuperSport online.
