Placed with minnows Kenya and minnow-bashers Sri Lanka in Group C of the 2007 event, New Zealand trounced Kenya by nine wickets as Mark Gillespie and Shane Bond ripped apart the Kenyan attack. Between them, they took six wickets.

However, the next match saw them lose to Sri Lanka by seven wickets after the Kiwi openers failed to provide any momentum.

They bounced straight back in the Super Eight stage, beating India by 10 runs in a close contest. The key contributions coming from Craig McMillan (44 runs from 23 balls) and Jacob Oram (35 from 15 balls) with the bat and skipper Daniel Vettori - who claimed four wickets, effected a run-out and took two catches - in the field.

Against England it looked like a defeat was on the cards until the experience of Bond and Vettori helped rein in the England batsmen and steer New Zealand to a five run victory.

Their final group game was a six wicket defeat to South Africa but by then their semi-final berth had been secured.

But as has so often been the case, they stumbled at the semi-final stage as Pakistan cruised to a six-wicket win after limiting the Kiwis to 143. Ross Taylor provided the only bright moment with 37 in 23 balls, otherwise it was an easy victory for Pakistan, which included a half century by Imran Nazir.

With Taylor developing all the time, Brendon McCullum renowned as one of the most destructive T20 batsmen and the guile of Vettori with the ball, New Zealand could be a contender in 2009.