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Black Caps celebrate a wicket - Source: Photosport -
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The Black Caps are adamant they will be ready to give South Africa a run for their money when they hit our shores, despite not facing a stiff challenge so far this year.
They continued their humiliation of touring Zimbabwe at Eden Park last night with a seven wicket Twenty20 victory to go with their Test win by an innings and 301 runs and 3-0 one-day series whitewash.
And while against most other teams in world cricket it would be cause to celebrate, there is a distinct feeling among the public that the poor performances offered by Zimbabwe will have done little more than give the Black Caps inflated egos.
Zimbabwe improved to some extent with the bat last night, but were still woeful in the field with misfields and extras continuing to let them down.
However stand-in skipper Brendon McCullum told reporters after last night's match that they remain realistic about the standard they will have to reach if they are to avoid getting a taste of their own medicine from the Proteas.
Even so, he said he was pleased with the clinical nature of the performances against Zimbabwe.
"We acknowledge that it may not be the greatest lead in, but at the same time we're playing what's in front of us and we can only control the aspects we're in control of and I think we're doing those very well at the moment," McCullum said.
"We know that we're going to be tested a lot more in a lot of different areas across the board in a week's time.
"We're not the finished product by any means, but I expect us to step up when the South Africans arrive so I guess time will tell how we do."
The Black Caps have one more chance to tune up for that challenge with the final T20 in Hamilton on Tuesday and McCullum said anything other than more of the same will be a disappointment.
"We need to win again and we need to win well in the fashion we've been winning so far in the series, with that emphatic nature and making sure that we don't reduce our standard in that final game."
Guptill sensational
One player the Black Caps shouldn't have to worry about making the step up is Martin Guptill, who continued his sensational form with an unbeaten 91 from 54 deliveries in last night's win.
Guptill is yet to post a score lower than 50 in the tour, which has given his captain reason to be confident.
"We've pretty much based all our plans around those guys (openers) being able to get off to the starts they've been getting off to.
"So (we've got) supreme confidence knowing that we've been able to get off to those starts."
The Black Caps conclude the Zimbabwe series at Seddon Park on Tuesday night while the South Africans will kick off their tour with a warm-up against the Wizards on Wednesday.
