No risks this time around for captain Fleming

Once bitten, twice shy seems to be the thought of New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming as he ponders his toss options before the sixth match in the National Bank One-Day International Series with India in Auckland tomorrow.

Having decided to bat first in the fifth game in Wellington and suffering the consequences of the life in the pitch, which at one stage saw New Zealand three for three, he will be doing what the circumstances are best should he win the toss.

Probably one of those options will be whether to include a snorkel and flippers in his playing gear because heavy rain has lashed Auckland for the past two days and more is expected tomorrow.

It is highly unlikely that the match will be played tomorrow and if that proves the case then a day match will be played on Sunday.

Whenever the game is played, Fleming is keen for New Zealand to re-assert its authority over the Indians, to deny them the luxury of going to the World Cup feeling better than his own team.

There will be an element of experimentation forced on New Zealand due to the knee problems that have ruled Nathan Astle out of the last two matches.

He is being rested after his left knee was given an ultrasound in Christchurch yesterday. It is hoped he will be able to play some State Shield cricket before the side leaves for South Africa.

The knee has worsened from the problem that forced him home from Pakistan last summer but it is hoped that with the correct management he can recover.

In the meantime, Mathew Sinclair will open with Fleming, while Chris Harris will bat at No 3, Chris Cairns at No 4 with Lou Vincent at No 5.

Fleming said that Vincent had been moved around too much in the order.

"It is time that he had a little bit of solidity, a little bit of security from the selectors to learn his role. We have perhaps been guilty of giving him too many roles. He just needs to find a tempo living down at 5 or 6, he's been learning that and doing well," Fleming said.

Sinclair had shown he could open as he did in Sharjah in 2001 where he scored two centuries. He had top order experience and had to prove that he could play at Nos 1, 2 and 3.

It was a situation all the side needed to get used to in case of injuries coming into effect in South Africa.

It was a perfect opportunity in a dead series for players to be able to work on these different roles in a match situation.

Cairns was going to have more of a batting role for the side. He was a good enough player to play No 4 or 5.

The real benefit of his batting would be seen if the new ball could be seen off.

"He can turn a game quite quickly. We saw the other night his ability to hit the ball when the field is up can be devastating. And you give your best players the most amount of time. He's good enough to be up there," Fleming said.

New Zealand were also keen to continue their changed method of aggression through the middle-order in the middle overs of games.

The emphasis has gone off power hitting, although the boundary option will always be taken off the right ball, but the attitude was now to use possible dominance through running between the wickets.

Vincent, Sinclair and Brendon McCullum allowed this variation. All three were quick between the wickets and Vincent had shown in the second game in Napier what he was capable of achieving. Fleming himself has been noticeably faster between the wickets in this series.

It was an important option for some of the bigger grounds in South Africa. It was important to realise that it wasn't just necessary to hit fours, he said.

Fleming said he did not like the pinch-hitting option now. There was a quality of batsmanship available now to the side from batsmen between Nos 4-8 that allowed a more traditional accumulation of quick runs.

"The guys are better than pinch hitters.

"We understand now that the guys from 4-8 are all capable of doing it and we have lost momentum in the past by being preoccupied with hitting the ball over the fence. So let's concentrate on getting the ones and twos and the basic parts of the game and they'll give us better scores," Fleming said.

The experience of Cairns, the developing ability of Vincent, McCullum, Jacob Oram and Andre Adams allowed New Zealand some exciting options.

"Adams has such untapped ability with the bat, he's probably frustrated himself because it does seem so easy," Fleming said.

"It wasn't an easy situation to play the other day but he did make it look easy. His ball-striking is up there with Chris Cairns. His batsmanship will improve with the meetings, briefing processes we go through and he's going to be a quality batter as well. Batting down to 7, 8 or 9 it is turn-a-match material."