Some good may yet come from New Zealand's loss - Fleming

In a perverse way, New Zealand's loss to India by two wickets in Wellington last night, was just about ideal for the side.

Captain Stephen Fleming said the TelstraClear Black Caps were under no illusions about where they were going into the World Cup next month.

They went into today's game to try some pre-determined things, one of them was to bat first in spite of the conditions which would have normally seen him bowl first.

Despite the top order rout when they were three wickets for three runs, a position from which no team has ever won a One-Day International, the side had hoped to scrape together 180-200 runs that they felt would have been competitive.

Some lack of discipline in the playing approach was exposed that hadn't appeared earlier in the series.

The bowlers had been notable for the way they had bowled to the required plans earlier but they had been guilty of conceding 16 wides today and that was too many.

It had been a cardinal sin not to bat out the 50 overs and it was a lesson for the lower order batsmen.

"We have players in the lower order who are very capable players and able to occupy the crease," he said.

Fleming wondered with the series tied up and the World Cup looming whether players were guilty of looking too far ahead.

Once again the pitch was not the best for a one-day encounter and was symptomatic of much of what has affected New Zealand this summer.

"The ball has dominated the bat and the guys are all frustrated but they know what they need to do," he said.

"It is creating a mental tentativeness that is holding the players on both sides back," he said.

Fleming said it was not known at what stage Chris Cairns would bowl in the series, if at all. It was something that would be worked on with the medical panel.