The touring side has pretty much had everything its own way. It won the one-day and twenty/20 series 2-1. New Zealand, of course, was always expected to be more competitive in the shorter formats but the forthcoming test series is meant to be a walkover.
Perhaps someone should have reminded the New Zealand XI side of that, because it upstaged England in the four-day warm-up match in Queenstown, winning by three wickets with just eight deliveries to spare.
It was a cracking game which ebbed and flowed. Fittingly, Black Caps wicketkeeper-batsman BJ Watling was still there at the end with a well-compiled innings of 89, to help the home side chase down the 334 it needed to inflict England's first defeat in a first-class warm-up match since February 2006.
Watling posted an undefeated 66 in the first innings, took seven catches in the match and did not let a single bye get past him.
The honour of hitting the winning runs, though, went to Neil Wagner. The Otago strike bowler absorbed the pressure in the dying overs and his cameo of 28 not out would not have done his confidence any harm.
It was also a nice way to celebrate being added to the Black Caps squad for the first test, starting in Dunedin on Wednesday.
''It is something I've been working hard for,'' Wagner said of his inclusion in the test squad.
''You've just got to keep fighting every day to get a spot in that team and that is what I've been trying to do.''
Wagner got the nod ahead of Wellington's Mark Gillespie, who had his moments in Queenstown but was not as consistent as Wagner and was guilty of over-stepping far too often.
Wagner ran in with purpose and worked hard for his match haul of six wickets for 154.
His inclusion in the side is, in many ways, an opportunity to put a few things right. His first three tests for his adopted country may not have not gone as well as he would have liked. But Wagner waited four years to become eligible to play for New Zealand and, if he is nothing else, he is certainly determined.
''I've had a couple of chances and I would have liked to have done better,'' Wagner said.
''But I've worked a lot on certain parts of my game. It is just about knowing your game and knowing what you've got to do and then execute it.
''It is a different level, it's another step up and I think once you start finding you feet and finding some confidence, things start happening.''
Wagner described England as ''a serious team'' and ''a good bunch of players''. Beating them ''does the world of good'' for confidence.
England had its moments. Batsman Ian Bell and opener Alastair Cook look to be hitting the ball nicely but Nick Compton, Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen will not have the luxury of going into the test series having had a decent stint in the middle. Collectively, the trio scored 65 runs, at an average of 10.83.
Spinner Graeme Swann and all-rounder Chris Woakes were the best of the English bowlers. Stuart Broad had some good spells but equally the New Zealand XI was able to get on top of his bowling at different stages.
Broad is not likely to forget in a hurry the crushing cut shot Hamish Rutherford clobbered over point for six.
Seamer Graham Onions will surely be limited to bowling in the nets for the remainder of the tour, after a horror game in which the medium pacer finished the match with one wicket for 213 runs. It was as awful as it sounds. Every time he came on to bowl, he got clobbered. Northern Districts all-rounder Corey Anderson, who had a very good match with the bat, was particularly harsh on the trundler.
As for whether the New Zealand XI's surprise victory has undermined England's confidence a little, Wagner played a straight bat.
''It is a warm-up game and they were without Finney [Steven Finn] and Anderson [James Anderson], which plays a big part. But it does give us heaps of confidence going into the test series, knowing what we are capable of and what we can do.''
