WELLINGTON - Whatever lessons the five limited-overs matches between New Zealand and England have taught us so far, the most glaring seems to concern that most nebulous of concepts, momentum. So far, whichever team the Big Mo has lined up behind, their almost instantaneous response has been to stumble to defeat. Four of the matches have resulted in hefty thrashings - though it seems fair to note that England have handed out three of them - and New Zealand will have to maintain the trend for bounce back ability if they are to avoid defeat in two formats in the run-up to what will likely be an exacting Test series. As with the T20s, the one-day series will go down to the final match. A rusty England lost control during the last ten overs of both innings in Hamilton but had hit their stride by the time the teams got to Napier. They still haven't worked out how best to bowl to Brendon McCullum, though, and the return to form of Ross Taylor is important for New Zealand cricket as a whole. Their main problem in the ODIs has been taking wickets early in the innings: England's Test-hardened top three blunting the effect of two white balls, and Tim Southee might have to be rushed back to new-ball duty a little quicker than anticipated in Auckland. If they do manage to ruffle England's top three, it will only hasten Joe Root's return to the middle - something Taylor has admitted wouldn't be ideal either. Were Root the hero of a Jane Austen novel, right now he would be struggling to move for society belles petitioning for a turn on the dance floor. Root's composed Test debut last year brought many admiring glances but his dashing one-day form has really set hearts aflutter. The one person left chewing his lip is Ashley Giles, who has seen his list of Champions Trophy selection issues grow by one; and not only has Root's form raised the question of what happens when the rested Kevin Pietersen returns to the squad, it has had the knock-on effect of limiting time in the middle for Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes, the two players most in need of chances to impress. Although, if it means England securing a first ODI series win over New Zealand since 1994, Giles probably won't complain. BJ Watling was one of the few New Zealand batsmen to come out of the Test series in South Africa with any credit but he has since scored 86 runs in five ODI innings and is struggling for form after being promoted to opener in place of the discarded Rob Nicol. Facing a bowler as good as James Anderson (or Dale Steyn) is among the harder tasks for any opener but Watling is now also the senior man, after the injury to Martin Guptill. The stilted start he and Hamish Rutherford made in Napier undermined New Zealand's chances, and cosying up to the eight-ball in the hope that McCullum will bail the side out is not a strategy for the long term. Of the England players that came into the ODI side after a decent layoff, only Graeme Swann has failed to slip back into a groove. NEW ZEALAND: BJ Watling, Hamish Rutherford, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, Brendon McCullum (capt & wk), Colin Munro, James Franklin, Nathan McCullum, Tim Southee, Kyle Mills ENGLAND: Alastair Cook (capt), Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler (wk), Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Steven Finn.