New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming predicts no team will remain unbeaten during a World Cup which has no clear favourite.
This year's Super Eights format means the winner will have to play 11 games in all and the vast majority of those against top-class opposition, climaxing in Barbados on 28 April
Australia retained their crown in South African four years ago with an undefeated record but Fleming has ruled out thoughts of a repeat.
Having just overseen a 3-0 whitewash of an Australian outfit lacking key players like Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist, Fleming said: 'The winner here is going to lose games.
'Form at the right time, winning key moments and key games will be crucial.'
New Zealand, pipped by England for a finals berth in the Commonwealth Bank Series last month, were buoyed by chasing down targets of 337 and 347 to beat Australia on home soil.
Previously they had lost all four encounters, some by slender margins, to Australia in the triangular tournament.
'They gave us the confidence that we needed,’ Fleming said, of the Chappell-Hadlee victories.
'We were doing a lot of things both on and off the field which were spot on but the performances on weren't reflecting that.
'We got put under a lot of pressure from that off the field and we questioned our performances to some degree.
'The wins died that down and gave the guys confidence to come away with.'
The reverberations from Australia's five consecutive losses have also been felt further afield.
'In terms of results worldwide a lot of teams were looking around the world to try to get a gauge on form,' Fleming said. 'The message those results sent out was that there are no clear favourites.
'Going into the World Cup it is going to be anyone's game.'
New Zealand begin their Caribbean campaign against Michael Vaughan's England in St Lucia on Friday.
It will be a different environment to Australia, where they were locked at 2-2 in the triangular earlier this winter.
'We felt the losses we had in the tournament meant we were not far away,' Fleming said. 'Some of the defeats England had meant they were a long way away and had a lot of work to do to get back to not only competing but winning games.
'They not only did it but did it remarkably well and so how they carry that on is going to be the biggest question mark.
'First up against us is a game they're going to target - if they can maintain that momentum there is no reason they can't carry it on for a couple of months.
'From our point of view, we are not only very wary of this game coming up, we also know we have to improve in certain areas.
'And the unknown for me is the assessment of conditions and the way teams adjust.'
The Black Caps, surprising losers to Bangladesh in a warm-up contest here, will be able to field key all-rounder Jacob Oram, who is recovering from a broken finger.
