If there was one positive to come out of tonight's hiding at the hands of Sri Lanka in Napier, it was the return of left-arm spin bowler Daniel Vettori to the international scene.

He very quickly reminded all in attendance of what he means to the CLEAR Black Caps and his 10 overs for three wickets for 21 runs were about as simple a demonstration of his worth as was necessary.

Vettori is a class act who while clearly superb in his bowling, adds another dimension with the bat where he was quick to put away the bad ball when he could while also working superbly in the field.

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming clearly relished having Vettori back.

"We have been lacking the ability to take wickets during the middle stages and we did very well today with Daniel bowling quite beautifully on his return," he said.

"So that enabled Chris Harris to create some pressure and gave us a chance to attack a little more through the middle stages.

"He's had Gavin [Larsen] to work with in the past who always created pressure and Dan in the latter part of Harry's career to work so without him it has been a much different role, he's not a wicket-taker through wicket-taking deliveries but through pressure with bowling with someone at the other end."

Fleming said the decision to leave all-rounder Jacob Oram out was based on wanting to more attacking bowling.

Vettori said: "It doesn't really mean much when you bowl well but then lose as a team. It was nice to be back in the fold and I enjoyed bowling out there.

"I was pretty happy with my bowling. I was a bit leg-sideish but overall I was pretty happy," he said.

© CricInfo