By Thrasy Petropoulos
BBC Sport in Port Elizabeth
First it was the off-spinner opening the innings, then it was the middle-order batsman sent in as pinch-hitter, and now it is the deadly relay throw.
New Zealand, the great innovators of past World Cups, have struck again
with a scheme that could become a major talking point of the
tournament should they progress.
There is nothing knew in the relay throw, a tactic introduced to cricket in
Australia where big grounds make it difficult for fielders to reach the
stumps from the boundary.
The innovation here is that New Zealand were playing the West Indies at a
small venue - St George's Park, in Port Elizabeth - and that it was a
deliberate ploy honed through practice.
And how it worked.
Brian Lara, fresh from a century in Cape Town, tucked Andre Adams off
his toes and set off for his first runs.
Off, too, went Lou Vincent towards the midwicket boundary in pursuit of
The slide when he reached it was predictable enough but as Lara set off for
a third run Vincent played his ace.
Low and flat, he threw in to Chris Cairns who had moved to square leg.
Cairns took the ball and, with deadeye accuracy,
threw down the one visible stump.
The umpire did not even bother to refer to a television reply to send Lara
on his way.
"That was our first fish and it's a pretty big fish to fry," Kiwi captain
Stephen Fleming said afterwards.
It was clear, too, that the West Indies players in the dressing room were
equally taken aback.
As Carl Hooper commented later: "Relays are useful on big Australian
grounds, but you don't expect to see the tactic on small grounds like this
"The guys have got the ability to throw in from the boundary but we
believe it's quicker and more accurate," explained Fleming.
"It also creates confusion.
"We're very happy with the work we've done. We know when and how to
use it. Today it won us the match."
And Fleming was not finished there.
He was also able to gloat over the promotion of Daniel Vettori - but not to
pinch-hit as Mark Greatbatch did so effectively a decade or so ago.
Vettori's laboured 13 from 25 balls was explained by Fleming as a means
of protecting Nathan Astle in the opening overs.
"Nathan is susceptible in the first five overs, as a lot of batsmen are," he
"But when he gets through those first overs quite often he wins the
game for us.
"I think it was successful (Astle top-scored with 46) but South Africa
come with different challenges. They are seamer-dominated and we have
to assess the conditions at the Wanderers."
So, after Dipak Patel and Greatbatch in 1992, we may in time be talking
about the 2003 relay throw and the top-order protector.
Until the next innovation, that is.