"Probably you guys [journalists] more than us," he responded at the press conference when asked if the Mike Hesson-coached men were any wiser after a game that went through the motions in front of a near-capacity "orange" crowd who looked like supporting a Dutch football team.
"I think you guys [the media] are the ones who want the boxes ticked. We are looking at trying to win games regardless of the situation."
He felt it was imperative for the New Zealand stable to maintain a winning mentality rather than fall into the trap of drawing up meticulous checklists on what was going right or wrong in the World Cup.
Frankly, he felt such an exercise would be futile.
"It's just purely about winning games and that's what we've been able to do so far ... ," Vettori said, keeping his fingers crossed that that winning habit would continue in their final pool game against Bangladesh on Friday at Seddon Park, Hamilton, as well as into the knockout phase.
Yesterday the rules of engagement changed, demanding a different approach at McLean Park when the coin fell the way of Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi, who chose to bat first.
Out went the hosts' plans of batting deep for some much-needed crease time on a potentially 300-350 wicket.
The tourists came and went with little fanfare before No5 Samiullah Shenwari combined in an 86-run partnership with the Najibullah Zadran at No8 to stop the rot, although an innings of 186 was pedestrian.
Nabi said Afghanistan's top five batsmen had yet to fire in the cup but he praised Vettori.
Said the Kiwi spinner: "In any form of the game you can play well and not take wickets and vice-versa."
He was frugally fulfilling the portfolio of containment with the wickets a bonus.
"That doesn't always happen but it's great when it does."
His injection early was primarily to facilitate a changing of ends for new-ball pair Tim Southee and Trent Boult.
The Black Caps' run chase was a far cry from a smash, bang thank-you ma'am that the McLean Park faithful have become accustomed to.
They responded with limp Mexican waves to stave off boredom at one stage and can be forgiven for leaving the park feeling like they had watched the most embellished open-wicket session in New Zealand.
That opener Martin Guptill, when sitting on 39 runs, was offering advice to birthday boy Ross Taylor, who was yet to score, spoke volumes on where the Kiwis' focus was yesterday.
It almost seemed as if batting coach Craig McMillan had instructed the Kiwis to not just rotate strike but politely excuse themselves from the crease when reaching a certain threshold.
Guptill's hesitation at the crease, which led to his run out for 57 runs, was peculiar but, hopefully, did heaps for his confidence.
Said Vettori: "I think we went into it thinking it's going to be a tough day no matter whether we bowled or batted first."
Adam Milne took a wicket but it was blatantly obvious he needs more crease time to polish his routine.
While the Kiwis had seen Pakistan upset South Africa in Auckland on Saturday, Vettori said all teams had match winners in their equation so it was difficult to draw too many conclusions before the quarterfinals.
"So you can't sit back to say a team's in form or haven't played well because you know they will go on to play their best," he said, mindful the Proteas, Pakistan and India were all of a similar ilk.
