Tim Southee produced the best bowling figures by a New Zealander in a one-day international and the sixth best in history with seven for 33 in nine overs to dismantle England for 123 in the 34th over.
It was a superlative performance demonstrating the full breadth of his mastery with the ball and the precision of his wrist position as he toyed with the English batsmen.
The crowd rose in appreciation and chanted "Sou-thee" in a way that hasn't been heard since a knight called Hadlee had the two syllables of his surname chanted a generation ago.
Southee underlined his status as leader of the attack. Ian Bell played inside the line, Moeen Ali and James Taylor were yorked, Jos Buttler was enticed to edge behind, Chris Woakes played around another outswinger and Stuart Broad and Steven Finn were caught.
He was essentially unplayable as he turned at the top of his mark and brought that rhythmic run-up into combat. It generated batting carnage.
Brendon McCullum followed by hitting the fastest half-century by a New Zealander in an ODI and broke his own record for the quickest at a World Cup, completing the feat in 18 balls. He went on to 77 off 25 before being bowled by Woakes with a full toss.
Fans were in a state of delirium as McCullum pummelled eight fours and seven sixes.
The English pace bowlers James Anderson, Broad, Finn and Woakes had no answer. The runs per over in succession went: 9, 18, 10, 20, 10, 29, 9, 4, 3, 4, 3, 0, 6.
MORE: Black Caps v England - as it happened
Earlier, Harry Houdini would have struggled to get out of the vice-like grip created by New Zealand's fielding display.
The meticulous planning flowed like a symphony in front of a capacity stadium and a few dozen taking in the sights for free from the incumbent cruise liner parked in the harbour.
The controlled aggression was palpable as England were given no room to escape the clutches of the parsimonious bowling and tenacious fielding.
McCullum co-ordinated the dismantlement through shrewd captaincy and omnipresent fielding. If any runs got past him, they must have donned a hat and dark glasses to go incognito.
He backed his bowlers wholeheartedly by stacking the field with catchers and engaging in mental disintegration sans verbals. He had four slips for Trent Boult bowling to Moeen Ali, there was a long leg and deep backward square leg to Joe Root to get him thinking about the inevitable short ball; he closed off the legside to Eoin Morgan from Daniel Vettori.
Then there was the fielding to back up what the bowlers were delivering. The skipper was backed by lieutenants like Martin Guptill and Adam Milne but even 36-year-old Vettori chased balls in the outfield like Jack Lovelock breasting the tape in Berlin.
New Zealand saved at least 20 runs in the field shutting down what looked probably boundaries. England looked like they were stuck at a Queen St intersection trying to cross the road with the traffic lights on the blink.
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