New Zealand's failure to better the country's sorry record in the finals of the Australian tri-series dominated the newspaper headlines today.

While the Australians tended to look towards their next series against South Africa, the winners, the New Zealand viewpoint looked again at the continuing problems the side faces in building a game plan.

The New Zealand Herald: "It was New Zealand's fifth consecutive tri-series loss and not only meant a 2-0 defeat in the best-of-three finals but a fifth unsuccessful attempt at lifting the silverware.

"It was also something of a tepid finish to a campaign which had promised the unthinkable at the halfway mark, as New Zealand led the competition with three wins from four games.

"Try as they might, the New Zealand top order could not find an effective mix of attack and defence, and were tormented by a South African attack which proved just as parsimonious as on Wednesday night.

"The only period of relief for the New Zealanders during the opening stanzas was when a spectacular electrical storm hit the SCG, flooding the ground and delaying play for 90 minutes.

"When New Zealand left the ground their innings was in dire straits at 75 for five, and it was only some desperate work from Chris Cairns - last man out for 57 - and Chris Harris which enabled the total to be boosted to 175 and avoided complete embarrassment."

The Sydney Morning Herald: "South Africa emerged from the near white-out of a blistering hailstorm to convert their recent history of domination of New Zealand into a major limited-over triumph with a 2-0 series wipeout of the Black Caps at the SCG last night.

"Only Chris Cairns's discretion and a splash of devastation in his 73-ball innings of 57 carried the ailing Black Caps past the 40-over mark as they sank to a 14th loss from their past 15 limited-over internationals against South Africa.

"An effortless flick of the wrists by Cairns deposited a Lance Klusener (2-30) delivery over the fence at long-on before the punishing all-rounder drove the catch to Nicky Boje at the base of the Hill after his 75-run partnership from 115 balls for the sixth wicket with Chris Harris (31).

"But for the best part of the final, the Black Caps struggled against the speed of Allan Donald (3-29) and Shaun Pollock (1-24), the medium-paced wiles of Jacques Kallis (3-23) and Klusener and relentless accuracy of finger spinner Boje (0-21)."

The Weekend Australian: "South African captain Shaun Pollock said his team did some soul-searching mid-tournament after three consecutive losses as the turning point.

"'We went to Adelaide and re-assessed and discussed with the team where we could go forward and just asked everyone to stand up and be counted, and the guys have done that,' Pollock said last night.

"New Zealand captain [Stephen] Fleming said the Kiwis expended too much energy in their early performances and suffered from injuries and mistakes - particularly against arch-foe South Africa - as the series progressed.

"The Kiwi openers Lou Vincent and Nathan Astle got their side off to a slow start last night, enduring more than four overs without scoring despite escalating taunts from the crowd.

"It was quite literally the calm before several storms."

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