Once again New Zealanders celebrate a fourth placing at an international sporting event, but in all honesty could we have expected anything else? The Black Caps endured a painful losing streak and lack of form prior to the World Cup and many felt they wouldn't make it far in this tournament.
But New Zealanders are great at rising to the challenge when no-one is looking. Like our national symbol, the fern, we tend to thrive when not in direct sunlight.
Very few expected them to crush the Proteas the way they did and what a performance (and upset) the boys in black provided.
I'm not even a cricket fan and my curiosity was piqued to see if Vettori and his men could pull another rabbit out of their Black Caps to beat Sri Lanka. But the magic had run out.
John Wright and the New Zealand team did a great job of quietly going about their business early in the tournament, beating Kenya and Zimbabwe by 10 wickets.
They did a brilliant job of beating Pakistan by 110 runs, which surprised the nay-sayers and pessimists among us, and then went on to beat Canada by 97 runs.
Ironically, the Sri Lankans were the ones who brought the Black Caps' brief winning streak to an end when they beat New Zealand by 112 runs on March 18. This may have been just the wake-up call they needed leading into the quarterfinals against South Africa a week later.
I know New Zealanders complain that we tend to reward mediocrity and celebrate fourth place-getters like they have a gold medal around their neck but, considering the dark places the Black Caps have inhabited recently, bowing out of the World Cup at the semifinal stage is something to be applauded (if not loudly).
Although they haven't managed to break their jinx of six semifinal losses in 10 World Cups, at least they can come away from the tournament with more dosh - $US750,000 ($NZ992,000), thank you very much - and holding their heads a little higher than when they left.
Some cynics are suggesting the Black Caps are chokers, but if you want to give any team that label, save it for the South Africans. They have gained a reputation for being one of the best teams never to win a World Cup.
Losing to Sri Lanka doesn't have the same agonising feeling as losing to the likes of Australia, South Africa or England, so New Zealand's loss, although disappointing, is bearable.
Highlights for me, as a grazing cricket viewer, include watching Ireland beat England (the Irish are going to feed on that for years!) and of course New Zealand's victory over the Proteas.
Other highlights include watching Jesse Ryder play cricket (don't ask me why), seeing injury-prone Jacob Oram's leap of faith to make that amazing catch that changed the tide against South Africa, Tim Southee's bowling throughout the tournament, Ricky Ponting's hissy fit against his own team-mate and the eventual meltdown of the entire Australian campaign, and Lasith Malinga's unreal slinging action when bowling.
At the conclusion of the match, Daniel Vettori announced his retirement from twenty/20 internationals and is taking time out to consider his future in one-day internationals.
It is fitting, therefore, that the only New Zealander left not out at the conclusion of the World Cup campaign was Vettori sitting on three runs off three balls.
It's as if he has decided to take a six-month hiatus from the crease to contemplate his future and, after a long World Cup campaign, who can blame him? Although not winners, the Black Caps' reputation as a competitive team which shows glimpses of fighting spirit has been restored.
