It was a toss-up who was the most excited: Jacob Coyle, a 12-year-old cricket fanatic or his father Dan.
For Jacob the surprise of his life came when he got to meet - and practice batting and bowling - with some of his heroes from the Black Caps. But dad, who manages Jacob's club team, was along for the ride too.
"It was an awesome experience," says Coyle senior. "There was a lot of excitement in the air and it wasn't just from the boy."
Jacob and 25 of his Suburbs New Lynn club mates got the opportunity to meet Black Caps Trent Boult, Martin Guptill and Lockie Ferguson after his parents applied to the ANZ's Get on Top of Your Game programme.
"Jacob's absolutely crazy about the game; he's got all the stats, he'll watch the Indian premier league, the Caribbean premier league, the Big Bash, Australia v England – if it's cricket and it's on television he'll be watching so we thought we'd give it a go," says Coyle. "It was amazing when we got the call to say he'd won."
The three Black Caps spent more than an hour batting, bowling and fielding with Jacob and the other young players from Suburbs New Lynn. But for Jacob the excitement began when Trent Boult turned up to his Laingholm home to drive him down to the club nets.
"I couldn't believe he was at my house," says Jacob. "All I could say was hello, I was so star-struck."
His dad takes up the story: "Jacob didn't know it was happening but I made up a story and told him some of the Black Caps were going to be at the club and did he want to go down to get autographs.
"As it happened we were due to go the next day to the T20 match against Pakistan at Eden Park and he said not to worry, he'd get the autographs then.
"But I told him it was important to be there, so he agreed to come," says Coyle. "Then I made out our car wouldn't start and told him I'd organised a mate up the road to take us."
Turned out the 'mate' was Trent Boult. When he saw him, Jacob couldn't believe his eyes: "Trent Boult's in the car, that's Trent Boult," he yelled to his dad.
Jacob was in for even more surprises. Down the road a bit Boult slowed to pick up another Black Cap - Martin Guptill - and then a third Lockie Ferguson.
"It was really special seeing Martin Guptill because he is one of my favourite players," says Jacob. "He talked to me a lot and gave me tips for my batting; oh yeah, I'm really glad I went along now."
Jacob who goes to Glen Eden Intermediate School and has been playing for Suburbs New Lynn for two years, got his start in cricket four years ago while at Laingholm Primary School. A promising batsman, he is starting to put together some useful scores, hitting 30 not out recently.
He has talent with the ball as well (in the grade he plays every player gets to bowl two overs); in a recent match he snared two wickets in two balls, just missing out on a hat-trick.
ANZ head of sponsorship Sue McGregor says they were pleased to give Jacob the experience of a lifetime - and to extend it to some of his club mates so they too could benefit from a one-on-one training session.
"The kids were really enthusiastic and meeting the Black Caps has given them a boost in confidence," she says. "We know sometimes all you need is just that little bit of extra help and we are committed to helping as many fans as we can.
"We want to give cricket players and the communities they live in the support they need, whether that's with a new set of gear, something for the club or making it possible for a player to meet one of their Black Caps or White Ferns heroes."