WELLINGTON, New Zealand (CMC):

His side may have plunged to a heavy defeat in the third one-day international (ODI), but Chris Gayle still believes West Indies can win the five-match series against New Zealand.

The West Indies captain was speaking ahead of the fourth ODI against the Black Caps to be contested on Saturday (today, Jamaica time) at Eden Park.

The series is now level 1-1, after West Indies crashed to 128 all out in 41.4 overs and New Zealand galloped to a seven-wicket victory with 177 balls to spare in the previous match at Wellington.

The first match of the series ended in a no-result following rain, and West Indies won the second match by five wickets under the Duckworth-Lewis method.

Looking ahead

"The series is far from over," Gayle said. "We did not play well at Wellington, but we still have two more matches. The series is wide open and we have to pull together and get back to doing the good things we did earlier on the tour. We will be looking ahead. We need to show character and work hard to stay in the series. There is a lot left in this series."

Gayle, however, believes one of the keys to West Indies winning the series is the ability of the batsmen to get the better of the left-arm spin bowling of New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori.

Vettori earned the Man-of-the-Match award at Westpac Stadium before the floodlights were fully illuminated. He bowled 10 overs unchanged and took four for 20, ripping the heart out of the West Indies batting. He has now captured six wickets for 74 runs at an average of 12.33, and his 24 overs in the series have been delivered at an economy rate of 3.08 runs apiece.

Gayle does not believe that Vettori is spinning the ball so prodigiously, but he admits that the control of the Black Caps' captain has rendered the batsmen on his side almost powerless.

"Most of the guys were in the Test series and they've seen Vettori over and over," Gayle said. "I'm sure they can actually make some adjustment.

"He's been playing for years and we've seen him in the Test matches, and the last couple of ODIs. There's no excuse for any batter to go and say Vettori is giving them problems and that sort of thing. You have to come up with some formula and work out a game plan.

"There is a lot of variation. We have to learn how to counteract that and try and get out of these situations as quickly as possible because it will keep costing us."

Focus on leadership

Vettori was flattered that the West Indies feel so helpless against his bowling, but he would rather focus on the leadership side of his responsibilities to the team.

"I feel in control of the ball, I feel like I have a really good understanding and the fact that I'm captaining the side means I can bowl myself in what I perceive as the best possible time for a spinner to bowl," he said.

Meanwhile, Jamie How has been dropped from the New Zealand squad for the last two ODIs, following an extended run of poor form.

Martin Guptill, a 22-year-old right-handed batsman who plays for Auckland, has been called up as a replacement.

All-rounder Jacob Oram, who limped off the field with an Achilles tendon injury after bowling two overs in the third ODI, was also excluded from the squad.

The selectors have decided against bringing a new player in rather than forge ahead with a squad of 12 for the games in Auckland and Napier.

Squads

NEW ZEALAND (from): Daniel Vettori (captain), Neil Broom, Grant Elliott, Daniel Flynn, Mark Gillespie, Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum, Kyle Mills, Jeetan Patel, Jesse Ryder, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.

WEST INDIES (from): Chris Gayle (captain), Denesh Ramdin (vice-captain), Lionel Baker, Carlton Baugh Jr, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Fidel Edwards, Shawn Findlay, Xavier Marshall, Nikita Miller, Brendan Nash, Kieron Pollard, Daren Powell, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor.