'Every game you play for New Zealand is important' – Colin Munro
New Zealand have been clinical in the two ODIs so far, but Sri Lanka have shown glimpses of brilliance, not least through Thisara Perera's belligerent 74-ball 140, which threatened to swerve the second game Sri Lanka's way.
The hosts are aware of the damage Sri Lanka can do if they get going as a unit, and are keen to avoid that from happening. They have secured the series, but one can expect them to come out firing with the same intensity when they come out for the final ODI at Saxton Oval in Nelson on Tuesday, 8 January.
"Perera played out of his skin" - Kane Williamson
— ICC (@ICC) January 5, 2019
"An unbelieveable innings" - Lasith Malinga
Despite New Zealand sealing the series, there's no doubting who the star of the show was: @PereraThisara #NZvSL REACTION 👇https://t.co/8GghC3chFq pic.twitter.com/bsvVaAMAih
"Every game you play for New Zealand is important and as a group we're trying to get better," said Munro who scored a fine 87 in the previous match.
"These are new conditions, too, and you have to adapt and that's what good teams do. We've got that blueprint to try and get 300-plus which we've done in the last two games by setting it up and hopefully we can continue that."
New Zealand will want to be a lot better in the field than they were in the second ODI when they dropped as many as six catches as Perera hammered away. It is well known that the side are usually among the standard-setters when it comes to fielding. So what explains the horror show at Mount Maunganui?
"It's a World Cup year, and I've put a big focus on the tournament" – Ross Taylor after scoring his fifth consecutive 50-plus score in ODIs in the second #NZvSL game.
— ICC (@ICC) January 6, 2019
READ 👇https://t.co/QYHwrAYLWY pic.twitter.com/DCe7gGud3V
"It just happens sometimes," Munro shrugged it off. "You can't really say anything on it. We do put in the work and sometimes it just happens.
"You look at the guys who dropped catches and I put my hand up there – I'm probably not one of the best fielders but some of the other guys are great fielders and probably some of the best in the world. You can look into it too much but we have acknowledged we need to do better."