Cricket: Red-hot Blackcaps out to maintain momentum

The Blackcaps are proving to be an unstoppable force across all formats so far this summer and have no intention of taking their foot off the gas.

Sunday's nine-wicket win over Pakistan wraps up the Twenty20 series with a game to spare.

But with two crucial tests around the corner, coach Gary Stead knows how important maintaining that momentum will be for his side.

"Very pleased," says Stead of his team's performance in Hamilton.

"I thought the way the openers laid the platform at the start with Tim and Martin...setting the tempo of the way we wanted to play."

The fast start had Stead's side largely in cruise control, with plenty of individual standouts - most notably Tim Seifert, whose controlled 84 not out not only set the platform for victory, but showed his maturity as an opener. 

"It just gives you confidence that you can perform at this level consistently," Seifert says.

"All you can ask from the players is that they learn from previous experiences and that's certainly something Tim talked about with us," assesses Stead.

Paceman Tim Southee dominated with the ball taking four wickets, as the premier bowling attack returned, showing once again the depth that Stead has at his disposal. 

"We want to make sure that we take some momentum and tempo into that test series as well so we certainly won't be taking anything for granted."

Watch the full story above

Join us for live updates of the final T20 from 7pm Tuesday