Photosport
Corey Anderson, Martin Guptill , Tom Latham and Nathan McCullum celebrate during the ICC Cricket World Cup semi final match between New Zealand Black Caps and South Africa at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. Tuesday 24 March 2015.
Getty Images
Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum asked New Zealanders to dream, and that dream of New Zealand winning the Cricket World Cup is one step closer.
OPINION: Dear Baz: Mate, you asked us to dare to dream. We did.
Now the reality is dawning.
Nothing else matters this weekend as we face our old foe Australia in the Cricket World Cup final tomorrow.
I just want to say how bloody proud I feel for you and your astonishingly talented and brave team. The country is in your thrall.
I had the privilege of being at Eden Park on Tuesday night. I sat with a good mate. We arrived at 6.45pm as South Africa finished its innings. We weren't drinking (this was a most unusual experience).
In fact, we had one water each while we were gripped to our seats during the five- hour rollercoaster.
What a finish. The entire crowd was on their feet as the last over started.
We wanted you and the team to feel our presence - we were willing you across the line, we were trying to give them any mental edge we could.
As Dan Vettori squared up for that last over I'm sure 4.5 million Kiwis were holding his bat with him. I'll never forget that moment.
I've never seen or felt anything like it before and I've been lucky to travel to some big sporting events as a journalist.
And what a deserving hero in Grant Elliott, the bloke with an even better back story than Stephen Donald's Rugby World Cup heroics.
As an aside, does Elliott's brave innings dispel the suggestion that the Kiwis were once prone to choking. Or does he dispel the same view of South Africans? Best not to ponder that one for too long.
Anyway, when Elliott's match-winning six soared into the grandstand I turned to my mate and we started screaming, jumping, yelling and hugging.
Normally that would be odd - but 40,000 others were doing it too.
After threading my way through fans drunk on national pride (I think it was pride), I got home and watched it all again on the TV replay. I couldn't sleep and I've had a grin on my face ever since.
I was at Eden Park for the 2011 Rugby World Cup final, but this was different.
The atmosphere at the rugby was deathly and it was a silent, anxious agony - like it really was a matter of life and death.
We expect our All Blacks to win every single game, no matter who they play and where.
But, until now, we haven't expected it from your Black Caps, Baz. That's why this means so much to so many.
I have never seen such jubilation and joy among cricketing fans (to be fair your predecessors have broken a lot of hearts over the years).
But now you need to know just what you have done for people's souls. You are public property. Win tomorrow and I promise your life will never be the same again.
You've made us believe again, Baz. Rightly or wrongly, so much of our national pride is tied to our sporting achievements.
I know you and your team visited the Melbourne Cricket Ground last year to check it out should you make the final. You and the team travelled without Grant Elliott - who clearly wasn't in the selectors' thoughts just five months ago. He was the only one of your current team who didn't make the trip.
Now, after an unbeaten tournament, look what you've created: expectation. Before this weekend we hoped you would win. Now we believe you can.
Tuesday was the greatest sporting moment and atmosphere I have witnessed in my lifetime.
But it's more than that. You've made us believe in ourselves and we seriously believe in you.
After the game on Tuesday you said, "Jeez it would be nice to win the thing, wouldn't it."
It would be so much more than "nice", Baz.
Can you please give us one more moment to savour tomorrow night.