KEY POINTS:
The race for the World Cup has come down to four teams and I'm increasingly buoyant about New Zealand's chances.
The Black Caps' Super Eight match against the West Indies confirmed that the hosts are well off the pace. The Windies were the one side who may have proved to be the fly in the ointment.
They aren't, which leaves Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka in the hunt.
Australia, through the words of Ricky Ponting and Glenn McGrath, have been desperately trying to get their swagger back.
They have lost the aura of invincibility and once you've lost that, you ain't getting it back.
But that isn't for a lack of trying. Ponting and McGrath have been talking themselves up for all they are worth, hoping the rest of the teams at the World Cup fall back into line.
They are great players who have known the advantages of playing in a great team. They have spent much of their careers walking on to the field against teams who are already well on the way to believing they are beaten.
But the damage to Australia's reputation has already been done.
They are a very good side, but the rest of the world has worked out that they are not a great side.
And I get the feeling that the team they fear is New Zealand. I don't think they believe South Africa would pose them many problems.
The Black Caps have done everything by the book so far. They haven't been super brilliant, because they haven't had to be. They have been very measured. They are in a very strong position, and are exhibiting a lot of self-belief.
So the rest of the tournament may come down to the contrasting styles of Australia and New Zealand.
The Aussies rely on their one to five batters scoring massive tallies. That is the only way to put long sequences of victories together.
New Zealand rely heavily on batters five to eight blasting away, which in the context of the World Cup may well be enough, as once you are in the semifinals, you only need to win two games on the trot.
The big question now for the Black Caps is the fitness of Ross Taylor.
Hamish Marshall has again failed to produce a score when given the chance and below our top line-up, the batting falls away.
If Taylor remains on the sideline, and with Lou Vincent already gone, it will put a major dent in our batting strategy and capability.
Taylor is young and should heal quickly. But if he returns and the hamstring blows again, that would be a major blow to our chances.
