Thankfully Daniel Vettori and Darren Sammy weren't required to lock arms, glare at each other and pose for the cameras. Otherwise this trash talk bout would have been halted early.

The two former skippers of New Zealand and West Indies were wheeled out to talk up Saturday's Cricket World Cup quarterfinal in Wellington and the contrast was a study in pre-match psychology.

Vettori's done a few of these before and was presented just when things threatened to get spicy in the leadup to the Australia game in Auckland. A safe pair of hands, guard up, and keep it as low key as possible. Nothing to see here.

Sammy, meanwhile, was happy to devour the nearest microphone pointed his way, with a smile. Likening his team to James "Buster" Douglas and the Black Caps to Mike Tyson, knocked down in one of the great sporting upsets, he came out swinging.

"It's a big occasion but we're not going to be overwhelmed by the occasion. We've played New Zealand in a quarterfinal of a T20 World Cup before [in 2012] and when it came down to crunch time, we won," Sammy said.

He kept throwing verbal jabs. West Indies had won two World Cups [in 1975 and 1979], New Zealand none.

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No one expected the erratic West Indies to even make the knockout rounds after their early loss to Ireland and off-field chaos that saw star batsman Chris Gayle slam the omissions of Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard, and effectively declare war on West Indies cricket's governing body.

"Here we are, a knockout game so the pressure is on the home team. They are the favourites to win, so the question is, what are they going to do when they play West Indies in a knockout. We're not too bad in knockout games. We're just going to enjoy it. The pressure is not on us."

It was some 15-minute performance from Sammy in the Norwood Room at the Basin Reserve. So impressive that it was almost overkill, but no one was complaining. For services to headlines the big-hitting allrounder deserved a medal. But the West Indies still need to address massive questions over their batting against the swinging ball, with Gayle battling a back injury.

It did raise a pertinent question about the unbeaten hosts, who on form and with home advantage look the warmest of favourites to progress to an Eden Park semifinal on Tuesday.

No one can say with certainty how they'll handle the occasion that hasn't been this big for any of them. Vettori's played in the past two World Cup semifinals, both defeats to Sri Lanka. No Black Caps have played a World Cup at home, and now there's the background thought that any slip-up on Saturday and the game of their lives from the West Indies, and the dream could suddenly be over.

"This is a really important week but we don't want to overstate it, we want to make it as simple as possible, as consistent as what we've been doing and casual. It's probably not that appropriate a word but that's how we've been building up over the last 6-7 weeks and it's really worked for us," Vettori said.

"So if we can keep that, that'd be the really important thing, all the while knowing that it's a really important game and the guys are really excited for it."

Vettori completed his media commitments by 8.30am and the team had the day off, ahead of today's big training of the week.

Some played golf, others watched the first quarterfinal on television and Ross Taylor even sampled some public transport, tweeting photos of his train trip to visit his parents in Masterton.

Fast bowler Adam Milne will have a final shakedown but he bowled five overs at Tuesday's training, was last to leave the nets and was confident of playing.

Vettori's also a key on the field. He enjoys bowling at the Cake Tin with its long straight boundaries, and in New Zealand's three wins over West Indies there his combined figures are 8-82 off 30 overs. He's confident nerves won't be an issue for the younger members.

"It feels like everything we're doing has remained the same and I hope it stays that way."

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