Losing the edge proving costly for New Zealand

New Zealand are paying the price for their earlier success with the National Bank Series already in the bag.

Captain Stephen Fleming said after tonight's second to last ball thriller won by India by one wicket in Auckland that the New Zealanders had lost their oomph in the field and the bowling disciplines that served the side so well earlier in the series had departed them.

He said it wasn't a conscious thing but he felt the players knowing the series was in the bag had started looking toward the World Cup and that had resulted in a drop-off in performance.

The positive to come out of the loss was that it had exposed more players to a last-over bowling situation and that could have benefits in similar circumstances at the World Cup.

But he said it was the fielding that was disappointing because it was an area the side prided itself on and it was an area in which it would have to be much more successful if it was to perform well at the World Cup.

"We know our fielding has to be top notch to beat sides," he said.

It was similar for the bowlers who, he felt, were in a "holding pattern".

There were disciplines to what the side was attempting to do and the loss of touch was more mental than physical.

"We are in danger of losing our momentum," he said.

"There are some signs there that we are coming to the end of a campaign that we have won but we have got to be very sharp in the last game to go 5-2 up. We're just missing on lines, we're a little loose with the bat and they are signs that the edge is just off a little," he said.

The side was missing Jacob Oram who had performed a good role for the side with his bowling and who had been a good foil for the bowlers at the other end.

"We gifted the game," he said of New Zealand's inability to take a fifth win from the series.

Fleming had been happy with New Zealand's score of 199 for nine wickets and said he could probably defend that nine out of 10 times.

"We felt that was a very good score on that wicket," he said.

The side had responded well in the last few overs when they crept back into the game, but Fleming said the questions they were asking of themselves was where was the intensity in the previous 40 overs.

"That is what we are focusing on now. We can operate pretty well when the team is under pressure, but creating that pressure is the key thing," he said.