Zimbabwe have a proud eagle on their country's insignia (and one of the longest and more lyrical anthems about) but rattling off the runs at eight and a half an over was beyond their each, especially when they found all manners of mysteries in the bowling of Gavin Larsen and Chris Harris, who both took three wickets at bargain-basement rates.
So the brave Zimbabweans went suddenly along to 105 for seven before everyone rather happily decided that this messy and involved affair - a mixture between sport and obscure underwater mathematics - was over.
And as the 5000 spectators wandered off to what assuredly will be superb summer weather over the next week, they must still treasure the memories of Crowe in an aggressive, demanding form that has escaped him during his long battle with injuries and a struggling team this summer.
Nothing heals injuries, or dented pride, more quickly than a few wins and the New Zealanders again went about their business yesterday with the air of men who knew how to win - and that they WOULD win.
They batted with more calculated ruthlessness than is within Zimbabwe's reach at the moment, they fielded with their new-found flair, and they bowled much more shrewdly at a testing time when less confident men would have faltered.
And there, out in front, was Crowe in totally commanding form. Rod Latham and Mark Greatbatch had gone for 25 runs, and when the second break in play left New Zealand 52 for two the match was very much in the balance.
The showers would obviously come and go, Zimbabwe most likely would have a manufactured winning target late in the day, and New Zealand needed many more runs in the bank as the game dropped from 50 to 43 to 35 to 24 overs a side. Each drop in the overs made New Zealand's position more perilous.
Crowe and Jones reacted brilliantly. They flayed the bowling, Jones starting with crisp cuts and several handsome straight hits to the fence.
Crowe seemed on top of his form, utterly commanding, bending the bowlers to his own design. The fours and grand strokes flowed along and then, with an inspired and full swing of the bat, he hit a towering six high over extra cover - in yesterday's conditions the shot of an absolute master.
The details were imposing enough - Crowe 50 from 31 balls, four fours, two sixes, Jones to the same mark from 56 balls, eight fours. They scored their first hundred together in 50 minutes of sheer magic, their 129 in nine minutes longer.
These bold deeds shone with flakes of gold in the grey and grim weather. But the real impact came from Crowe who now seems to have welded the old brilliance of his batting to the new responsibilities of the captaincy.
New Zealand are on a fascinating run of success. Perhaps one of these days they may come slightly unstuck. But if they do misread their lines a little in the future they will need only to refer back to the script that Crowe fashioned for them yesterday.
With him and them in such marvellous flow, anything is possible.
New Zealand 162 for 3, 20.5 overs maximum
Crowe 74, Jones 57, Duers 1-17
Zimbabwe (target 154 runs from 18 overs) 105 for 7, 18 overs
Flower 30, Harris 3-15, Larsen 3-16
Man of the match - Crowe
