The Black Caps may turn to their spin bowling ranks to help turn their fortunes around and secure the T20 series decider against Australia in Wellington today.
The Australian trio of Ashton Agar, Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell have spun webs around the Kiwi batsman in the past two games, while the home side has continued to back its pace attack.
It has not worked, with Australia romping home to two crushing victories.
Australia’s spinners combined for 11 wickets in game four, conceding just 49 runs at under five an over between them, as New Zealand slumped to 106 all out in its chase of 157.
Spin dominance in T20 cricket is no surprise.
Nine of the top ten bowlers with the best economy rates in T20 internationals are spinners, while four of the top five currently ranked bowlers in the format are spinners.
So the stats do not lie, spin is key.
New Zealand are not swamped with options, but have enough to experiment with and potentially snatch a series-defining victory.
Kane Williamson seems the obvious choice to roll the arm over, while Mark Chapman and Glenn Phillips are other options.
After being bought for a whopping $2.8 million at the IPL auction last month, Kyle Jamieson has looked a shell of himself, and a bit of time on the sidelines to regather himself may be the best for him and the side going forward.
Whatever the case may be, some kind of change is required if New Zealand are going to win the series.
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