The ODI's begin

It's the start of the ODI series between New Zealand and South Africa this afternoon. The two teams go head-to-head at Westpac Stadium in Wellington in the first of three ODI's.

This will be a big step up from the T20 series, as the Dom-Post explains:

A week can be a long time in international cricket.

Seven days ago New Zealand swaggered to Wellington Airport, after a clinical dispatch of South Africa in the tour opener.

Since then the blazing blade of Richard Levi in Hamilton and a severe case of the batting yips in Auckland has the mythical umpire calling `advantage, Proteas', heading into today's first ODI. Especially with superbat Jacques Kallis, speedster Dale Steyn and prolific test skipper Graeme Smith donning their new green and yellow shirts, the latter replacing Levi.

You get the impression the longer these games progress, the tougher New Zealand will find it against the seasoned veterans and extreme pace of Steyn, Morne Morkel and company, with three ODIs then three tests to follow. But there should be enough confidence in the home camp to fancy their chances today, considering recent stats and the bounceback from the short format where anything can happen.

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, sitting beside coach John Wright, spoke of Wednesday night's collapse as one out of the box, and insisted the switch of formats meant a fresh start. "There's definitely belief that we can beat them."

We hope that the Black Caps have quickly exorcised the demons of the loss to South Africa on Wednesday night; a match which should have been won with some comfort. The South African side they face will be a much tougher beast.

But at least history is on the side of the home team; read on:

In 13 completed ODIs against South Africa in New Zealand, the hosts have won nine, and their recent form at Westpac Stadium extends to seven consecutive ODI victories since January, 2006. Four of those, against Australia, England, West Indies and Pakistan saw New Zealand bowl first and skittle the visitors for a sub-150 total; a year ago Tim Southee took five wickets as Pakistan folded for 124.

There's also memories of the 49-run World Cup quarterfinal defeat of South Africa last March; although Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Daniel Vettori and Jacob Oram are missing while the Proteas have only legspinner Imran Tahir absent.

The Wellington pitch today is unlikely to be as quick as the excellent Eden Park drop-in where the fast bowlers prospered on Wednesday, so the threat posed by Steyn, Morkel (M) and de Lange may be blunted to a degree. The New Zealand batsmen will still have to be on top form however if they are to win the match.

We had hoped to get down to Wellington for the match today, but work commitments have prevented it. We are however planning a trip to Wellington for the first couple of days of the test match which starts on Friday 23rd March. We are already aware of a few online souls with similar intentions, so we might have to plan to congregate for an ale or two; let us know if you're planning to be there.

In the meantime, we'll be watching today's match with keen interest, as long as we can get our work done and get home on time!