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Brendon McCullum - Source: Photosport -
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New Zealand will become the first country to play 20 international matches in the Twenty20 format when they play India in Christchurch on Wednesday night but their record is by the far the poorest of all the main cricketing nations.
Twenty20 internationals will celebrate their fifth birthday on the world stage this time next year but as much as the Indian Premier League (IPL) has hyped up the spectacle, the micro-sized entertainment extravaganza is often no more that a prelude (or afterthought) to the real action.
The upcoming series is no different.
New Zealand will play two Twenty20 internationals against India this week before engaging in a five-match one day international series and then a three match Test series.
And while the gulf between the two sides can be argued in all three formats of the game it's perhaps in the shortest version where the difference - at least in terms of overall record - is the greatest.
The Black Caps have the worst record of all the main eight cricketing nations in Twenty20 cricket with a winning percentage of just 36% in the 19 matches they have played.
In contrast, the world champion Indians have played 11 matches for a winning percentage of 64% to hold the second best record behind, perhaps surprisingly, Pakistan with a 75% winning record.
But of course behind such statistics lie a deeper story, and despite the infancy of the short version of the game, the one fact that has become apparent is that just one brilliant individual performance can end up being the decisive one.
Young Australian David Warner's breathtaking innings of 89 off 43 balls on debut against South Africa last month in Melbourne was the winning blow in that encounter, while similarly, Brendon McCullum's devastating 158 not out off 73 balls in the inaugural IPL match last year elevated his Kolkata Knightriders to an assailable position.
Sometimes though, the match turning performance can be a lot more inconspicuous.
While Twenty20 cricket was made for the batting pyrotechnics, a maiden over can be just as influential in the final outcome of a match as was proved with Nathan Bracken's man-of-the-match performance for Australia against the Black Caps at the SCG 10 days ago.
Both India and New Zealand possess players that can independently turn the tide of a match.
Dashing Indian opener Virender Sehwag, who bats much in the same mould as an Adam Gilchirst or Chris Gayle, is one such player that the Black Caps will be wary of but it doesn't get any easier if they dismiss him cheaply.
Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni are all capable of playing the crucial knock.
The Black Caps can counter of course with some of their own bashers: McCullum, Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor and Jacob Oram are all fence clearers that can take a game away at the blink of an eye.
It might just be though the two premier spinners on either side, Daniel Vettori or Harbhajan Singh, who prove the match winner.
Incidentally, the first and last time these two teams met, at the 2007 World Cup in Johannesburg, it was Vettori who bowled New Zealand to victory.
The Black Caps defending 190, restricted the eventual champions to 180 with Vettori delivering a man-of-the-match performance with 4-20 from his allotted four overs.
