Black Caps v Sri Lanka: Tim Southee hails his side after near-perfect performance

Tim Southee leads off his team in victory. Photo / Getty

Given an innings win was sealed on day four, it’s easy to forget the second test began with the Black Caps inserted on a greentop.

It’s generally not a recipe for success in Wellington — even England were left scrambling in that situation last month — but ultimately proved about the only setback New Zealand suffered against Sri Lanka.

After losing the toss, almost everything went right for Tim Southee. He and his fellow bowlers may not have felt that way last night, after being made to send down 209 straight overs, but this was close to an optimal performance.

The openers established a good platform in unfavourable conditions, Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls cashed in with matching double-tons, those weary bowlers snared 20 wickets without too many issues and the fielding was almost flawless throughout.

It added up to victory by an innings 58 runs, a 2-0 series triumph and a three-test winning streak for a side who had been reeling.

“There’s a lot of character shown throughout the home summer,” Southee said. “It’s been a pleasing few weeks in the whites, with a number of different guys stepping up at different times.

“We’ve won from different positions and shown character to bounce back after a loss [to England] at the Mount. So it’s nice for the test group to be ticking along.”

Williamson and Nicholls earned and received the most acclaim; the former awarded player of the series and the later receiving player of the match. But Southee pinpointed the two batsmen who came before them as pivotal figures.

Although Tom Latham departed for 21, he had fought hard to blunt the new ball, and although Devon Conway was frustrated to fall for 78, he had set the tone for the subsequent batting blitz.

“When you lose the toss here on a green wicket, to deny the opposition early wickets like they did is brilliant,” Southee said. “They didn’t get the runs they would’ve liked but that opening partnership set up what was to follow.

“And what was to follow was pretty special — seeing two guys go out there and score double-hundreds. It was a pleasing batting performance. Kane showed his class once again, and Henry showed he’s a quality player at this level.”

The bowlers then capitalised on those efforts, rolling Sri Lanka for 164 and giving Southee a simple decision to enforce the follow-on. The next stage of the match was a slog, with the tourists batting for 10 hours while scoring at 2.5 an over in brutal winds, but Southee (3-51) eventually finished off what Blair Tickner (3-84) had begun.

“It’s never easy — we’ve had a few follow-ons in our time and it’s always tough,” the skipper said. “You know you’re preparing yourself to possibly be out in the field for a long period of time.

“It was great to have the guys wanting to have the ball in their hand. Guys put up their hand to bowl into the wind, guys bowled long spells and they just kept on coming. That’s another characteristic of the side — guys wanting to keep going in tough times.”

New Zealand had recently endured a few; before the one-run win over England, they were without a success in seven tests. But ahead of the short-form portion of the tour, starting with the first ODI at Eden Park on Saturday, Southee and his charges can reflect fondly on the last few weeks — and put up their feet.

“It’s been testing physically but that’s what test cricket it about,” he said. “The guys will be a bit heavy in the legs but very pleased to have it wrapped up with a day to spare.”