Matiu Workman
in Whangarei
New Zealand stand-in captain Brendon McCullum praised both his batsmen and bowlers as they 'stepped up' to overcome an out-of-sorts Zimbabwe to seal the series with a game to play.
There were many highlights in the 141-run victory, but McCullum singled out their fast start as a key factor to their overwhelmingly comfortable win.
"We won ugly down there [in Dunedin], but to come up here today and start as well as we did - against a team like Zimbabwe you've got to start brilliantly to sort out a complete performance and I think we did that today with Rob and Marty.
"To have Rob anchor the innings the way he did and then the boys that played around him as well and I thought we were brilliant with the ball under some 'interesting' circumstances but we definitely stepped up."
Zimbabwe were defiant throughout the middle stages of their innings, and their refusal to surrender their wickets and instead rely on survival clearly frustrated the Kiwi wicketkeeper.
"From Zimbabwe's point of view they're probably just a little low on confidence and obviously looking to bat some time in the middle.
"On a wicket as good as that it's pretty hard to try and make something when you've got an opposition set on batting time as well."
McCullum revealed the decision to introduce Jacob Oram early in the innings came six to seven overs before it eventuated, saying the need to continue the momentum generated by their start - coupled with the attacking logic of the batting powerplay - played into Oram's hands.
"It also gave Jake an opportunity to get into the game with the bat, which he hasn't been able to do for a while now.
"I thought Jake was brilliant, but I thought Rob's inning was sublime. To have batted 46-48 overs always gives you a real shot of a good score. He's shown his ability to step up from domestic cricket and have a real presence at international cricket, so I'm excited for him."
The three-match ODI series heads to Napier for the final game - which has become a dead-rubber - to be played on Thursday.