After two strong performances in Christchurch, the BLACKCAPS wrapped up an ODI series win over Sri Lanka yesterday with Mount Mauganui as the backdrop. Sri Lanka improved as the series went on which was lovely, continuing to show promising signs for the future, however a 3-1 series win for the BLACKCAPS was the fair result as the kiwis were better than Sri Lanka in every facet, from the team sheet to their fielding.

Yesterday's fifth and final ODI saw Matt Henry doing the trick, as he has done all series taking 5/40 off his 10 overs. The same can be said about Martin Guptill who hit 102 off 109 deliveries. If I were to hand out awards, it would be hard to seperate Guptill and Henry, such were their individual efforts this series. To have a player dominating in such fashion with bat and another doing the same with the ball is something to celebrate, especially when it's not the likes of Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Tim Southee, Trent Boult or Brendon McCullum #Depth.

Henry finished with 13/122 off 29.4 overs at an average 9.28 while conceding 4.11 runs an over. Two four-wicket-hauls and a fiver.

Guptill scored 331 runs at an average of 82.75 in five innings.

Both make for glorious reading.

With McCullum's retirement just around the corner and the seeds planted for the Kane Williamson era, we can't sleep on the importance of having different blokes putting their hands up. Guptill enjoyed a great 2015 and has found a purple patch of form at the perfect time as the BLACKCAPS look for an aggressive batsmen to lead the way in McCullum's absence. It's a similar situation with the bowlers as you could argue that without Southee and Boult this team lacks a certain wicket-taking polish and the more quality international bowlers Williamson has at his disposal, the better.

The other two wins for the kiwis in this series came in dominating fashion, blowing Sri Lanka out of the contest as soon as possible. This win was a bit different and followed the general pattern of ODI cricket more intently, epitomised by the dual 61s from Williamson and Taylor who built their innings in a more traditional sense. Ultimately, this allowed the 'finishers' the opportunity to do their job with Luke Ronchi and Mitchell Santner both scoring quick runs late in the innings. Shout out to guys just doing their jobs.

Last time I was here I wondered about Ronchi's lack of form and he responded nicely (good on ya), this time I'm wondering about Henry Nicholls and Adam Milne. Nicholls started this series strong, looking the part and while I won't double back on my belief that Nicholls will be a consistent presence in this middle-order, he did struggle to do anything with the opportunities presented to him. There's the small sample size to keep in mind before any rash decisions about Nicholls are made, I'm just wondering about his core role batting at No.5 and with Corey Anderson on the comeback trail, I like Anderson's power over Nicholls' potential.

Thought: Latham to keep wicket, Anderson in for Ronchi and keep Nicholls at No.5? Maybe in a year or two.

No need to fret about Nicholls, regardless of whether we see in him the ODIs against Pakistan (probably won't). I am however a bit worried about Milne and this series against Pakistan will offer greater insight into what we can expect from Milne moving forward. As usual, everyone was captivated by Milne's pace ... which couldn't get him more than 2 wickets all series and saw him finish up as the most expenseive kiwi seamer not named Tim Southee.

Milne was quick, looked to be getting a bit of movement in to the right-hander and was accurate, yet lacked penetration, which when combined with being expensive doesn't bode well. I want to see Milne get every opportunity to prove these stats wrong against Pakistan, he had better start to deliver the goods as the work of Henry, Mitchell McClenaghan's low key nice series and the dual-spinner possibilities all pose a threat to Milne's spot.

I'm not overly fussed about the T20s, both against Sri Lanka and Pakistan although with the World T20 looming in the background, we'll start to get an idea of how the BLACKCAPS might look and their tactics. Two T20s against Sri Lanka, one tomorrow and one on Sunday then three T20s against Pakistan starting next Friday and then we get into the ODIs against Pakistan. With this series done and dusted, here's my BLACKCAPS team to face Pakistan with cover for injuries/conditions

Guptill, McCullum, Williamson, Taylor, Anderson, Ronchi, Santner, Southee, McClenaghan, Henry, Boult.

Latham to cover the batsmen, Sodhi to cover conditions with Milne and Bracewell in the mix for the seamer spots which will get rotated.

We're moving quickly this summer with the limited overs cricket coming hard and fast. Enjoy the T20s for what they are, however don't sleep on that World T20 beast on the horizon which gives these upcoming T20s a funky bit of context.