KEY POINTS:
Now the blood-letting has stopped and the lynching parties have headed back to the couches, it's time to look at our World Cup in a more rational fashion.
The Black Caps went into this World Cup as the third best ODI team in the world and left the third best team in the competition.
While Sri Lanka and Australia were clearly the two best on show, what is so hard for us to accept is the gap between them and the rest. Our team performed to seeding and form but not expectation.
Past results had given the team, media and public a high expectation of our team and many were not expecting it all to come to grief in the fashion it did over the last few games.
Did it come to grief or was it just true to form? The reality of it is our team is good but not that good.
You must accept Stephen Fleming's post-match comments when he said the team was simply outclassed but you should also show disappointment that they underperformed.
It is this underperforming habit in landmark games during tournaments that troubles me.
There was the semifinal of the ICC Champions Trophy (smashed by Australia), the sudden-death match against England in the Commonwealth Bank series and of course the semifinal of this World Cup.
This habit must be turned around because if the tournament - God forbid - were repeated tomorrow, I don't believe the result would be any different.
There is no substitute for class in key matches. Australia has a ton of it and Sri Lanka has it in key areas.
Lasith Malinga saved his best form of the tournament for the semifinal, Murali was Murali and Mahela Jayawardene was brilliant when his team needed him to be.
New Zealand is unlikely to produce a Murali or a Malinga but our orthodox players have potential to be better and more Australian-like.
The majority of this squad could be together come the next World Cup. Players such as Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori, Peter Fulton and Ross Taylor should be smarting so badly with the way the team capitulated at the end that they should be motivated not only to do better but to be better players.
A lot about the game at this level is in the head but to be the best, you need to be world-class and show it in the big games.
Those are the occasions that define you.
Of the older guys, I support Fleming fully in his decision to stay on as a player but not captain. His captaincy had nothing to do with the poor results in the final few games.
What would have made a difference, just like the players around him, is more skill. His place is now more perilous so his only currency is runs. By staying there, it means a better opener must replace him.
As for Shane Bond - when he goes, God help us find some fast bowlers because they are essential and to the best of my knowledge they don't exist in New Zealand.
