New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori paid tribute to the performance of Nathan McCullum and Scott Styris following his side's ICC World Twenty20 victory over Zimbabwe in Guyana.
Zimbabwe had made a good start batting first to reach 58-1 in the seventh over. But the bowling of man-of-the match McCullum (3-16) and Styris (3-5) saw it lose its last nine wickets for just 26 runs, falling to 84 all out.
Rain then forced the players off with New Zealand on 36-1 after 8.1 overs in reply, and with the weather not abating the Black Caps were winners by seven runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method.
Vettori said: "After a tough start it was good to fight back in those middle stages particularly with Nathan McCullum and Scott Styris, those two three-wicket overs really helped us. I think we knew it would be a difficult wicket to bat on later on with Zimbabwe having so many spin bowlers but the confidence in the middles stages, which we have shown in a number of twenty20 games, was there and we were pleased with it again today."
But the all-rounder acknowledged his side will face tougher tests as it advanced to the Super Eight stage of the competition, and hinted that it may tinker with the side for its upcoming games.
"We have played the same team in both games so far, but we know we will face tough opposition, probably South Africa first up, so we have to adapt and be ready," he said.
Zimbabwe captain Prosper Utseya praised the positive start his side had made to its innings, but was left to rue the fact it had not built on that foundation as it exited the tournament.
He said: "We are disappointed, we had a good start but didn't make use of it.
"I think it was a bit of inexperience, in the two warm-up games we had been struggling up front and I thought the guys in the middle order tried not to play themselves in.
"The potential is there it is just consistency that's lacking at the moment. If you want to play at the highest level you have to mature as a cricketer."