A curious phenomenon took hold in New Zealand's first test against Sri Lanka.
Kane Williamson was dismissed for 88 and 71, a match aggregate of 159, yet the brow furrowed and the thought of 'that's odd' momentarily swung through the cerebral cortex.
Statistics show that his first innings in Hamilton will be the longest period - six innings - that he has gone without a century since the start of 2014.
That's the extent to which the 25-year-old has revolutionised expectations and why his teammates must continue to rally behind his example in the second test against Sri Lanka starting in Hamilton tomorrow.
It's not like Williamson's out of form.
In Dunedin, he became the second New Zealander after Brendon McCullum last year to score 1000 runs in a calendar year.
He has 1063 runs at 88.58, the highest average for any Kiwi to have played more than eight innings, also in a calendar year. Another hundred in Hamilton would take his annual tally to five - he holds the current record with McCullum on four.
Perhaps the desire to watch Williamson bat is best set out scientifically. Let's base average innings time on a proportional scale of household tasks.
Tim Southee's batting duration might be the equivalent of cleaning the kitchen bench; Brendon McCullum might equate to putting on a load of washing, hanging it out and/or doing the ironing, depending on how his mood strikes.
However, "to Williamson", like "to Crowe" or "to Sutcliffe" in generations past, is becoming a verb for setting aside time for a major chore like painting the room of a house or chopping a trailer of firewood.
Williamson will be loath to focus too much on his achievements, but that's where the onus goes on his teammates to divert attention from his endeavours.
Apart from Ross Taylor's record 290 in Perth, few other batsmen applied themselves to the extent required in Australia. Fortunately for fans, the 431 in the first innings and then 267 for three declared in the second against Sri Lanka offered some reassurance.
As a benchmark for improvement, it was the first time different openers scored centuries in both innings (Martin Guptill 156 and Tom Latham 109) in New Zealand.
That was supplemented by McCullum (75) and Doug Bracewell (47) establishing what would eventually be a 137-run first innings lead.
Seddon Park's Patumahoe clay pitch is expected to provide an even contest between bat and ball.
Groundsman Karl Johnson says the surface has never been used for test cricket.
The Plunket Shield match in October yielded 29 wickets and 1105 runs across three innings (average 368). The New Zealanders also had their pink ball trial at the venue.