IT TOOK less than 22 overs of stroke-filled mayhem at Headingley on Thursday for England to burst the West Indies bubble of euphoria. Now with the deficiencies in the bowling department cruelly exposed, the Caribbean side's array of inexperienced talent could face another taxing examination when they take on New Zealand in a crucial NatWest Seriesfixture at the Sofia Gardens ground today. Having endured a four-hour 230-mile drive from Leeds to the Welsh capital yesterday, Brian Lara's men need to be at their sharpest and most focused to prevent the Black Caps from virtually assuring themselves of a place in the July 10 final at Lord's. New Zealand lead the tri-nation standings with 12 points from three matches, followed by the West Indies and England, who both have nine points. However, the hosts have only two matches left - against the New Zealanders tomorrow and the West Indies on Tuesday - and they will be following the events in Cardiff with more than a degree of anxiety despite their rousing seven-wicket triumph over the Caribbean side 48 hours earlier. Even after the setback of that embarrassing loss, the West Indies still have their destiny in their own hands as victory in the three remaining matches will assure them of a return to Lord's for the final. POTENTIAL DECIDER Yet in light of the unpredictability and spectacular inconsistency of their cricket, next Thursday's final preliminary duel against New Zealand at the Rose Bowl in Southampton is already shaping up as a potential decider. The change of scenery from the north-east to the south-west of the British Isles has not broken the pattern of unsettled weather, and as in the three 3completed matches so far, which have resulted in resounding wins by the team batting second, the toss is again shaping up to be a critical factor. As they showed in demolishing England in Durham on Tuesday, New Zealand are ideally equipped to capitalise on helpful conditions for seam bowlers. Left-armer James Franklin was the hero then with a five-wicket haul - his first in ODI's ­ but in Jacob Oram and all-rounders Chris Cairns and Scott Styris, they have players with the experience to exploit conditions not dissimilar to what they usually encounter in their home conditions. For the West Indies in contrast, experience in the bowling department is minimal. Despite playing more one-dayers than any of his fellow bowlers, Ravi Rampaul has betrayed his 19 years in being easily rattled by batsmen bent on relentless attack and has been replaced by Tino Best. Jermaine Lawson, who gave encouraging performances in take rain-ruined fixture against the New Zealanders a week earlier in Birmingham and the next day against England in Nottingham, was never allowed to settle and plundered mercilessly at Headingley. While Ian Bradshaw showed much more composure and Dwayne Bravo picked up two wickets amid the carnage, the bowling attack has been shown for what it is, filled with youthful talent but liable to cave in under pressure. Whatever the final balance of the bowling line-up, the top order also has to come to terms with life in seamer-friendly conditions. They cannot always expect Lara to win the toss and therefore put them in the much more comfortable position of chasing rather than setting a target, so as much as the bowlers have come under the microscope, the message has been sent loud and clear to Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul that they must weather the storm through to the first 15 overs to give the middle-order a fighting chance of posting a competitive total. Lara's plan to bat at number five worked perfectly at Trent Bridge six days ago, but with Dwayne Smith all at sea so far under cloudy skies, the captain may have to rethink that position if the West Indies are required to bat first against the threat of Franklin, Oram and company. New Zealand seem the better-balanced, more experienced team, but such is the nature of one-day cricket that it takes only one outstanding individual performance to turn a match on its head. SOURCE: JAMAICA-GLEANER.COM