Expect New Zealand to push the letter of the law in ball maintenance during the second National Bank Series cricket Test which starts in Christchurch on Thursday.

The shell-shocked home team, who were all out in humiliating circumstances to lose the first Test by 299 runs yesterday in Auckland, appear to have decided to fight with fire after their experiences.

They arrived at practice today armed with balls sand-papered on one side and shiny on the other in a bid to simulate the reverse swing that Mohammed Sami especially was able to inflict on New Zealand in Auckland.

Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, said the way the side looked after the ball would be by all the laws of the game.

"We'll take better care of one side by getting a good shine on the ball.

"We'll be making no attempts to deliberately tamper with the ball," he said.

But to get reverse swing it was necessary for the ball to be bowled at around 140/130km/hour," he said.

Nor were New Zealand attempting to make an issue of the way Pakistan manage to use the ball to their own advantage.

What they do appeared to be acceptable under the laws, and New Zealand needed to do likewise, he said.

The bowling changes for the Test with Chris Drum, Jacob Oram and Grant Bradburn coming into the side gave Fleming new options for the match.

"Chris Drum comes into the game after a very good performance at Lincoln for New Zealand A and with positive belief," he said while Oram and Bradburn have been good performers this summer.

Fleming also rubbished critics of the CLEAR Black Caps who felt the side didn't appear to be suffering enough public hurt after their performance in which the last nine wickets fell for 26 runs at Eden Park.

"Comments like that are pathetic. We were devastated. We hurt more than anybody. We had a very good session yesterday after the game.

"But you've got to get straight back on the horse," he said.

Fleming said as captain he probably felt the loss more than most in the side. But he analysed what he had done and considered the lessons to be put to future use.

The pitch in Auckland had made the result a lottery and while the portable pitch at Jade Stadium for the second Test had been used before it still did not have as much grass on it as New Zealand expected and was likely to take spin late in the game but that expected in Test cricket and New Zealand would have to deal with that.

Whether the 12th man would be one of the fast-medium bowlers or spinner Grant Bradburn would have be a judgment made on Thursday when the pitch was finally seen in its match state.

While the side was well beaten in Auckland, it had responded well throughout the season and he expected it to be competitive in the second Test.

"We do look forward to the challenge involved," he said.

© CricInfo