An ambassador for Hesson's concept is Grant Elliott.
Elliott has been portrayed as the embodiment of "the team man" since returning this summer on the back of strong domestic form.
The 143-run victory over the West Indies proved no exception. He entered at 278 for four with six wickets down and 40 balls to spare. Elliott, on his 36th birthday, used 11 of them to belt 27, including two sixes and two fours.
Martin Guptill's 237 not out will dominate memories of the match, but Elliott's contribution without fear for dismissal was also valuable. He's added similar batting weight with scores of 19, 39, 29 and 29 at a strike rate of 103 across the tournament. He didn't feature against England and had a golden duck against Australia.
Elliott's quarter-final contribution at No 6 went largely incognito with Guptill batting like a maestro, but he appreciated a licence to attack.
"It gets to a point in games when there aren't too many wickets down and you can have a bit of fun. The top order batting did so well that we had wickets in the shed. There's no point being 400 for two if you can be 430 using as many wickets as possible."
Hesson also pointed to Daniel Vettori's "36-year-old White Men Can Jump" catch of Marlon Samuels at third man for inspiration. Samuels trudged off for 27 off 15, thwarting the West Indies chase at 80 for three in the 10th over.
"I didn't think 36-year-olds could jump that high," Hesson said. "From our point of view [in the team hutch], I thought it was going over and he'd made a bit of a token jump."
Elliott said the catch had been a source of team mirth.
"He [Vettori] said his son told him he didn't jump that high on the trampoline ... and there have been a couple of NBA photos going around."
Hesson said Guptill also exemplified the team-first mantra in what he considered the best ODI innings he'd seen.
"The way he paced the innings by setting the tone early, playing straight, adapting to the conditions and timing everything from ball 30 on. It was pretty surreal.
"There were a lot of high fives and cuddles [in the dressing room]," Hesson said. "It was an amazing innings which we were immensely proud to watch.
"Players have been quite selfless putting their own milestones and targets behind what the team wants to do. The fact he [Guptill] got a hundred then a big hundred and one which determined the outcome of the game was most pleasing."
Guptill's acceleration was consistent, making his first 50 in 64 balls followed by increments of 47, 23 and 18 balls for the next three 50-run brackets.
Hesson said the team's 2-0 ODI loss to South Africa in October did not leave them daunted. Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor didn't feature in the series.
"That was at the start of a six-month campaign and South Africa were better prepared than us for those fixtures. The pitches were different, we'd come out of a winter, they'd come out of a campaign. They hit us hard early and we didn't respond well. We're more match hardened now."
- Andrew Alderson of the New Zealand Herald
