Storms threaten Wellington one-dayer

The continuing bad weather at Wellington has thrown the third one-dayer between New Zealand and South Africa in to doubt.

After a week of winds and storms, Wellington was still drying out when more thunderstorms rolled in and poured down more rain. Ground staff at the Westpac Stadium had done their best to get the surface in the best possible condition, but this latest downpour will have undone all their good work.

Stephen Fleming, New Zealand's captain, and John Bracewell, the coach, had their first look at the stadium today, which revealed a dry pitch, but with likely surprises after it was flooded on Monday. Fleming said, "when you see the ground you appreciate the pressure Trevor Jackson's [head groundsman] been under." Graeme Smith, South Africa's captain, was able to catch a glimpse of the pitch as well, and he commented, "it looks like an Indian pitch".

If the game does go ahead, New Zealand will go into the match with the momentum after their win in the second game at Auckland, plus the fact that South Africa have a couple of injuries. Lance Klusener is a doubt with a bad back, and Shaun Pollock has a shoulder injury which he is expected to play through.

The toss is likely to play a big part, and Fleming maintained his stance that the pitches at this time of year were guesswork. "It really is a lottery so we have to make sure that whatever we do, we do it well," he said. "We are dead keen to go 2-1 up in the series and there were some positive signs in the last match. It was a good performance but once again it's only one. We want to develop and win two and three on end, like the Pakistan series. We've worked hard on the things we want to do in this game, the factors with the wicket, and try and look at everything. Just be very thorough."

For South Africa, if Klusener doesn't make it, Albie Morkel is likely to make his international debut. "I've really enjoyed being with the squad for the last seven ODIs," said Morkel. "The fact that I did not play in any of them will help me because I've been able to get a good idea of what is required to succeed at the top level, the discipline, the pace of the game and the professionalism is very different to provincial cricket."

New Zealand (from) Stephen Fleming (capt), Michael Papps, Hamish Marshall, Scott Styris, Craig McMillan, Chris Cairns, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum (wk), Daniel Vettori, Kyle Mills, Daryl Tuffey, Michael Mason.

South Africa (from) Graeme Smith (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Boeta Dippenaar, Jacques Rudolph, Mark Boucher (wk), Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener, Robin Peterson, Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel, Nicky Boje, Albie Morkel, Ashwell Prince.