KEY POINTS:
Few players could be happier with their World Cup form at the moment than New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris.
A slow starter this summer after suffering back and hamstring problems, Styris has managed to strike a purple patch at this year's tournament, turning in a succession of match-winning
performances with bat and ball.
Having helped his side to grab an important group win against England with an unbeaten 87, Styris followed that up with 66 against Kenya, 28 against Canada and a fine 80 not out against the West Indies last week.
He's also proved a valuable practitioner with the ball, his last effort against Bangladesh realising four for 43 as New Zealand steamed to their fifth win in as many games, in the process grabbing second place on the Super Eight ladder.
An indication of Styris' World Cup influence is his overall tournament record, which boasts a batting average of 75.14 from 13 innings; the best a sublime 141 against Sri Lanka at the start of the 2003 tournament.
This year's effort has been even more impressive - 258 runs at 129.00, and eight wickets at 15.50.
Styris said yesterday that there was a buoyant feel in the New Zealand camp, and that all players were aware of the potentially history-making opportunity that could be coming their way.
"I really set my stall to try and do well out here; I was really keen to help us through," he said. "We know we've got a chance to win, so why not put everything on the line and see if we can.
"We're all taking it that way; we're looking at it as a chance to win and any contribution you can make is valuable."
Styris was singled out before the World Cup as a player who might be dropped to make way for the returning Jacob Oram, who missed the final two Chappell-Hadlee matches with a fractured finger.
But such has been his impact that he'd be one of the first players picked if a semifinal was looming tomorrow.
"The last 10-12 days for me has been fantastic," he said. "Earlier on I thought I was hitting the ball pretty well - I was just getting out.
"But that first game against England gave me a rhythm that I was happy with and was the best thing that could've happened to me. I seem to know how I want to play when I'm out there, and the pace and tempo I want to go at.
"At the moment it's all working well and the England game's the one that started it off."
The 31-year-old said he was aware that some people were already picking New Zealand to make the semifinals but believed there was far too much of the second round remaining to be looking at anything but the next game.
New Zealand play Ireland at Guyana's Providence Stadium on Tuesday morning, before decamping to Grenada for their three most important games outside the playoffs - against Sri Lanka, South Africa and Australia.
"We want to stay in the now and pay full attention to our next task. In the past we've got into trouble when we look too far ahead and that can even be in terms of a solitary game.
"We're certainly not looking any farther ahead than Ireland - I couldn't tell you our exact schedule after that."
One concern for New Zealand is the eight days they need to kill between their match against Bangladesh and their next game on Tuesday against Ireland; a break that many fear could take some of the sting out of their so far near-faultless campaign.
Australia are so worried about a similar period of down-time that they released their players for three days on their own recognisance.
"I think there's two ways you can look at it," said Styris. "It's a crucial period in terms of momentum and it's very easy to go off the boil with so much down-time over the next few days.
"But I'd prefer to view it as a chance to recharge the batteries before the final push over the last couple of weeks of the tournament."
