Daryl Mitchell's display of late power hitting helped New Zealand into the T20 World Cup final. Video / Black Caps
"Job finished? I don't think so."
Jimmy Neesham's response to a picture of New Zealand's winning moment in the semi-final against England was revealing. In the photo, Neesham is rooted in his chair.
"It's a situation worthy of celebrating I guess - winning a semi-final - but you don't come halfway around the world just to win a semi-final," Neesham said the day after the Black Caps' five-wicket win.
"We've got our sights pretty firmly set on the game in a few days' time... I'm personally, and we as a team, are not getting ahead of ourselves.
"One game to go and I'm sure there will be a bigger outpouring of emotion if we manage to get across the line."
Jimmy Neesham is laser-focussed on World Cup victory. Photo / Photosport
A few seconds after New Zealand's victory, Neesham matter-of-factly congratulated his team-mates. While the circumstances of the win were remarkable - no side had ever chased down 57 from the last 24 balls in a men's T20 international, yet the Black Caps got there with an over to spare - the simple fact of it was not.
New Zealand were long renowned for their capacity to defy expectations and reach the semi-finals of World Cups. Yet it sometimes felt like the semi-finals were the summit of their ambitions - the place where all the team's tenacity and shrewdness could not take them beyond.
In their first 10 ODI World Cups, New Zealand reached six semi-finals, the joint most of any nation - but they lost the lot. The wonder seemed less that they kept losing semi-finals, but how - with a population of under five million, and cricket existing in rugby's shadow - they kept getting there.
Neesham's undemonstrative celebrations encapsulate a new age of New Zealand cricket. The notion of the semi-finals as a roadblock for New Zealand was shattered in Auckland six years ago, when Grant Elliott launched Dale Steyn over long on to seal their berth in the 2015 ODI World Cup final.
It seemed like the denouement to a stirring revival of New Zealand cricket under Brendon McCullum, who had inherited a team at "rock bottom" two years earlier. Instead, the run to the final at home was merely the prelude to Kane Williamson, McCullum's successor, presiding over the greatest era in New Zealand cricket.
Qualification for the T20 World Cup final follows reaching consecutive ODI World Cup finals, and the victory over India in the inaugural World Test Championship final this year.
Perhaps New Zealand aren't punching above their weight. Perhaps they have simply been misclassified.
Certainly, after reaching the finals of the most recent global events in all three formats, the notion of New Zealand as middleweights is becoming increasingly hard to sustain. 'It's been an incredible journey'
In under a generation the entire expectations surrounding New Zealand cricket have been transformed. Back in 2012, they were ranked seventh in Test cricket, eighth in ODI cricket and sixth in T20 cricket. Today, they are ranked top in Test and ODI cricket alike; in T20, their worst format, they are still fourth.
"It's been an incredible journey so far," says Tim Southee, who has played for New Zealand since 2008.
It has often been remarked that success has come while embracing decency and humility on the field, as typified by the grace in defeat and victory alike in those pulsating World Cup matches with England in 2019 and 2021.
At a crucial juncture against England, Daryl Mitchell rejected a single after inadvertently clashing with Adil Rashid - "I didn't want to be that guy that caused a bit of controversy," he said.
Tim Southee has evolved to become one of the craftiest bowlers in world cricket. Photo / Photosport
Since a group of coaches convened in McCullum's hotel room on the first evening of his Test captaincy, after New Zealand were bowled out for 45, there has been an authenticity to New Zealand's style. The confrontational approach that sometimes characterised the side's play - notably in the 2011 World Cup - has been ditched.
"For a long time, we played a style that didn't really sit well with us as Kiwis," Southee observes. "It's grown and feels natural for us to go out and play in that style."
The continuities between the McCullum and Williamson eras should not obscure how the team has changed. New Zealand's ultra-aggressive approach has been replaced by a more calculating style: the wonderful hitting at the end of the run chase against England came after an innings underpinned by accumulation.
For all that New Zealand's ascent owes to a brilliant generation, they are benefiting from a structure set-up to maximise every iota of the nation's cricketing talent.
The general incompetence of cricket boards means that, merely by doing their jobs well, New Zealand Cricket have had a competitive advantage. In 1995, New Zealand Cricket took the first steps to reform their governance, making themselves fit for cricket's hyper-professional age.
The cordial image of the side obscures that the board have given serious thought to the business of how to succeed in cut-throat international sport. In 2012, the old selection committee was replaced by making the head coach the head selector too, leading to greater continuity of selection.
The domestic structure is geared around the needs of the national team, not parochialism. Mimicking the All Blacks, a portion of each domestic head coach's salary is directly paid by the board, and they are judged partly on how they develop international players. Rigorous minimum standards for grounds were introduced in 2005; a High Performance Centre - complete with a climate control system that allows players to play outside 12 months a year - opened three years ago.
The upshot is that New Zealand are the lone nation that have been able to defy the game's economic polarisation off the pitch. They might not be in the sport's economic big three - but the Black Caps have already toppled two of this club in the World Cup.
If Neesham and company finish the job on Sunday by defeating Australia, the final member of the trio, the All Blacks might even have competition as New Zealand's most admired sports team.
