No team with three consecutive losses leading into the semi-finals has advanced further in 44 years and 11 editions of the tournament.
However, this is a time to ponder what "can" rather than what "can't" be done; the Black Caps must attack the situation.
They play the game in a tremendous spirit under Kane Williamson but the tired cliché as the "Mr Nice Guys" of the sport will matter little when they venture onto Old Trafford in pursuit of consecutive finals. Motivation is in ample supply and one example could be pinned to the dressing room door.
Indian great Sachin Tendulkar tweeted birthday wishes to Mahendra Singh Dhoni and signed off "all the very best for the next two games". The cheek…
James Bond author Ian Fleming wrote in On Her Majesty's Secret Service that "worry is a dividend paid to disaster before it is due". New Zealand can be tentative. On this occasion they must play with open minds, capable of absorbing pressure and carving out their own narrative. Mind you, easier written than done.
European Cup and English first division football winning manager Brian Clough once said "sometimes you win matches in unusual places – often before you put a foot on the field". Bear in mind Clough was a walking self-confidence billboard, like when he noted "I wouldn't say I was the best manager in the business, but I was in the top one".
Still, New Zealand must channel, as India do, the body language that they can complete the task after the sides missed each other in a round robin wash out. India won the ODI series against New Zealand 4-1 over summer, but were dismissed for 92 in Hamilton and lost the opening World Cup warm-up match to the Black Caps by six wickets at The Oval. There are chinks in their batting armour.
The last World Cup's winning-captain-turned-commentator Michael Clarke also offered advice, albeit directed at how New Zealand might beat Australia when that was the presumed match-up before the latter lost to South Africa.
The wisdom applies to India, too: "Assume the game is only going 35 overs, dominate them, attack them early, don't be scared to take them on. Be prepared to attack with your best bowlers. Keep going for wickets." He might as well have said: "India, get ready for a broken batting order".
New Zealand captain Williamson and coach Gary Stead have their own methods of motivation. They are more likely to be clinical than aggressive, but each member of the New Zealand XI can commandeer this fixture.
Preferably someone beyond the tournament's proven performers – Williamson, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult, Jimmy Neesham or Ross Taylor – will take the reins and "Elliott" themselves into history.
