He might be winning, but New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming surely knows that his luck with pitches on offer in the National Bank Series must be getting close to running out.

Luck was with New Zealand as it out-lasted the Indians to claim a three-wicket win in a pathetically low-scoring match at Eden Park today where 108 scored in 32.5 overs lost to 109/7 scored off 37.4 overs.

Fleming said the pitch had been "very testing" and because of the negativity that was surrounding the pitches that negative factor was just as dangerous as the pitch itself.

"It was two-paced, the ball would hold and there was balloon bounce," he said.

Fleming made the point that New Zealand had not been doctoring pitches as some reports had claimed. The conditions had not been asked for. What New Zealand wanted was pitches with more bounce.

Fleming said he was surprised by the qualities the pitch showed.

"I thought it would be a good wicket. It took me by surprise," he said.

Fleming said he hoped the wicket in Auckland was not an indication of what lay ahead for the remainder of the series because he was sure the batsmen in both sides wanted to be able to express themselves in their build-ups for the World Cup.

As New Zealand's wickets tumbled, they were 52/6 at one stage, he admitted to nervousness, but it was more for batsman Kyle Mills. He believed his players had the ability to do the job but was nervous for them in their execution.

He praised the efforts of Jacob Oram while he added that the Indians were only one performance away from cutting loose and it was his hope that he could keep them down for as long as he could.

Oram, who was named man of the match as much for his five-wicket bag while bowling as for batting effort in scoring 27 not out in 96 minutes of anxious batting, said he took a lot into his innings from his experience in seeing New Zealand to victory in the second Test in Hamilton.

He said it had involved a little bit of grit that he hadn't seen in himself in the past. It wasn't really his game to work the ones and twos as circumstances have required him to do in these matches, but he admitted enjoying finding this new aspect to his game.

Oram and Mills had merely said to each other all the way through that they would see each other again at the end of the over.

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