Defending world champion England stands between New Zealand and its ambitions of progressing further at the World Twenty/20 Cup tonight.
That statement sounds ominous, and perhaps it is, but on the evidence of both sides' performances at the tournament, New Zealand is favourite. Barring other results, complex mathematical equations and possibly a cameo by Aladdin, the loser would be gone.
The unknown for New Zealand fans is how much of a sting the 13-run loss to Pakistan and super over loss to Sri Lanka will have. Has it brought motivation or deflation to a side which has played decent cricket but has not translated it into victories like their tournament opener against Bangladesh?
With just a day off, the New Zealand players can only rest up, run their eyes over some footage and perhaps scrawl a pen across a whiteboard.
The area in which England appears most vulnerable is spin.
New Zealand needs not overstack its bowling shelves by bringing in Roneel Hira but the onus goes on Daniel Vettori and Nathan McCullum to respond.
They struggled to combat the wrists and eyes of the Sri Lankan batsmen but England is a different proposition.
It is hesitant after capitulating to India for 80 as Harbhajan Singh and Piyush Chawla prised open its defences. The West Indies' Chris Gayle (6.75 runs per over) and Samuel Badree (5 runs an over) also held them after pace bowler Ravi Rampaul seized two wickets in his opening over.
England captain Stuart Broad regretted the loss of a wicket in the first over of every match thus far, even against Afghanistan.
"To lose two wickets [Craig Kieswetter and Luke Wright] in a disappointing manner was frustrating. Whoever takes responsibility against the new ball needs to do so in that first over."
There is debate as to whether Eion Morgan should come in higher in the England order. If he comes in at No 5 against New Zealand at the start of the 11th over to score 71 not out off 36 balls, as he did against the West Indies, England is arguably wasting its most valuable resource. He has the highest strike rate (135) of its recognised batsmen.
Broad insists it is logical.
"Morgy's game is more suited to finding boundaries when the fields are back. He's not overly suited to piercing the infield [during the six-over opening power play]. The risk and reward might be too high for someone so valuable."
On the bowling front, excellent Pallekele batting pitches mean width is punishable by someone jogging beyond the boundary rope. It was a point noted by Broad after playing at the venue for the first time this tournament.
"The bouncer kissed [the pitch] nicely and you've still got to have aggressive intent but anything outside off stump was basically four. You know good balls can also sail over your head in this format but if batsmen play outrageously good shots I think you have to nod and say 'well played'."
Andrew Alderson flew to the Twenty/20 World Cup in Sri Lanka courtesy of Emirates Airline (www.emirates.com/nz).
