McMillan backs Guptill to find form

New Zealand batting coach Craig McMillan joined Brendon McCullum in brushing off Thursday's string of run-outs as a freak occurrence, and backed a misfiring top order to click, ahead of the third ODI at Eden Park. Opener McCullum is the series top-scorer so far, with 168 runs, but in both matches he has been poorly supported by the other top-order batsmen.

In Hamilton, McCullum had contributed 117 runs of the team's 158 runs by the 30th over. Five batsmen made 10 or fewer in that innings, and Ross Taylor's 34 swallowed up 69 deliveries. In Christchurch, McCullum hit 51, but the team still slipped to 101 for 5 before Corey Anderson led a resurgence. The batting problems seem to have begun with opener Martin Guptill, who has scores of 0 and 10 so far, but McMillan said the team was certain Guptill would soon be making more substantial contributions.

"It's only been two games and the alarm bells aren't ringing within the squad," McMillan said. "We know Guptill is a quality performer with the record to back that up. In Hamilton he tried to hit one over the top, and just didn't quite get the elevation he was looking for. We're confident that the guys we've got can do the job. But there's no doubt that we need to see a little more from some of them, and hopefully that starts tomorrow."

Guptill's low international scores have come despite significant domestic form in the approach to the series. In his last four innings in New Zealand's Ford Trophy, Guptill has scores of 111, 55 and 108, in addition to the fifty he hit against Pakistan in the fourth ODI played in the UAE.

"I don't think it's a confidence issue," McMillan said. "His international track record is very good and he has come off some good performances for the Auckland Aces. Whenever you come from domestic cricket into international cricket, there is a lift in intensity.

"Everything rises in terms of the gameplay, and a whole lot of things change. It does take a couple of games to adapt to that. Maybe a couple of players are finding that. Certainly, some of the guys are a little bit short of the runs that they'll be after, but I'm sure on a good, hard, fast, bouncy pitch tomorrow, they'll come good."

Kane Williamson is unlikely to be fit for the match, while Grant Elliott may also be ruled out because of an illness in the family. McMillan said New Zealand had resisted the temptation to look ahead at the World Cup, and were instead keenly focused on winning the ongoing series. If Elliott in unavailable, Daniel Vettori is likely to bat at no. 5 again, as he did in Hamilton.

"We've got injuries to deal with, but we're putting the best team that we can, onto the field. Dan is batting at a needed position at the moment. He's batted at no. 5 before, and he's batted higher in the order. He's scored a lot of international runs, and he was put there to do a job that we know he can do. Depending on how the squad pulls up tomorrow, he may do that job again."