Coming up with a plan to dismiss South Africa captain AB de Villiers is preoccupying the minds of the Black Caps ahead of Saturday's series decider in Auckland.
While Martin Guptill's heroics in Hamilton with 180 not out levelled the best of five series at two all, Black Caps coach Mike Hesson knows failure to contain de Villiers could prove the difference between winning and losing the series.
The Black Caps have only managed to dismiss de Villiers in two of the four matches so far and Hesson says coming up with a plans is one thing, actually getting de Villiers out is another.
Mike Hesson (right) and Black Caps captain Kane Williamson. Photo: Photosport
"We've been able to get South Africa six down a few times before the 40 overs which is a big kpi (key performance indicator) for us," said Hesson.
"The next step is getting past that and AB's such a good player he actually gives a lot of confidence to the guys around him as well so we'll coming up with some ideas to get rid of AB but it's not quite as easy as that."
Hesson says they haven't dwelt on the their latest win, just as they didn't dwell on their record loss to South Africa in previous match in Wellington.
Martin Guptill acknowledges the Hamilton crowd after his innings of 180 not out. Photo: Photosport
"We reflect and hopefull learn and try and get better but we don't ride the waves," said Hesson.
"Consistency in cricket is difficult because even the top side in the world only wins 70 percent of their games.
"So you are going to have the odd aberration especially against quality sides. So our challenge is to be really consistent in how we prepare and if we all do that (well) we're likely to put in a solid performance."
