The Black Sticks' third and final match against Japan at Blake Park this week will play out tonight instead of tomorrow, due to concerns over Cyclone Lusi.

The decision to reschedule was made last night by Hockey New Zealand tournament director Dave Potter, acting on advice from Metservice stating Saturday's game will be unplayable because of extreme rain and wind.

Black Sticks goal scorer Kane Russell celebrates with team mates at last night's match. Photo: www.photosport.co.nz

Game three will now start at 5.30pm, Friday, March 14 at Blake Park in Mount Maunganui.

Both the New Zealand and Japan team officials decided they would rather play the final game of the series, than face a washout on Saturday.

Tickets for Saturday's game pre-purchased through the TicketDirect website will be valid for tonight. As per ticketing conditions there are no refunds offered.

The schedule change also means there will be no live streaming for the game.

The Black Sticks will go into tonight's final a game ahead of Japan, after scoring two second half goals to defeat their opposition 2-0 in the second game of the series last night.

After a goal-less first half, the Black Sticks seized control and played with composure and patience on the ball to shut Japan out.

Head coach Colin Batch says the team's performance is a marked improvement from Wednesday night's draw.

'I think Japan played a lot better tonight and challenged us right through the game. We couldn't get a lot happening in the first half but we wore them down and stuck to our beliefs and game plan,” says Colin.

'I'm really pleased with our performance tonight. You've got to know when to apply pressure and I thought we adapted to that well.

'We've often questioned our ability to play for the full 70 minutes but I think tonight we established that, which is really pleasing.”

Kane Russell opened the scoring in the 42nd minute with a pin-point drag flick into the top right corner from a penalty corner.

Tauranga's Andy Hayward sealed the result with just two minutes remaining, with a hard and low penalty corner drag flick.

Final score:

Black Sticks: 2 (Kane Russell, Andy Hayward)

Japan: 0

Halftime: 0-0