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A five-wicket win over a cricket rival with an aversion to success abroad should usually be enough to inspire confidence.
But the Black Caps are wisely taking nothing for granted despite twice making short work of Sri Lanka's batting order in the first test at Jade Stadium.
New
Zealand forged a 1-0 lead in the two-match series with more than two days to spare on Saturday afternoon and were to resume training today, presumably with an emphasis on batting before heading to Wellington where the second test starts on Friday.
The Black Caps have fond memories of their last meeting with Sri Lanka at the Basin Reserve, which they won by an innings and 38 runs to claim the 2005 series 1-0.
However, with another confrontation with Muttiah Muralitharan and his pace bowling cohorts looming, New Zealand's batsmen are approaching their assignment with some trepidation.
While the Black Caps bowlers covered themselves in glory by running through a highly rated top order, the victory did nothing to ease concerns over their batsmen's ability to set significant scores.
Totals of 206 and 119 for five were enough to get the job done but if the likes of Sanath Jayasuriya and Mahela Jayawardene fire to support centurion Kumar Sangkkara, then New Zealand's well-documented fragility could undo any good work by a Shane Bond rejuvenated by a seven-wicket haul on home turf.
New Zealand's batting wasn't as dire as on the tour of South Africa in April when they were 28 for six at Centurion and 82 for seven in Johannesburg, but there were enough tremors on a flattish pitch to indicate they are still prone to collapse.
Eyeing a significant first innings lead after bundling Sri Lanka out for 154, New Zealand slumped to 113 for six before captain Stephen Fleming and Daniel Vettori spared the home side's blushes. They then lost four for 10 before stumbling across the finish line.
Fleming, who scored 48 and 0, admitted the batting had to pick up.
"We're bowling well, though we're going to have to play extremely well to get enough runs to win," he said.
"That'll be the nature of this series. They're always going to be a threat because they've got one of the greatest bowlers (Muralitharan) that's ever played the game."
Given it is a short test series and New Zealand did win the opener, there's been no tinkering to the squad.
But with Ross Taylor scoring his maiden first class double ton for Central Districts last week, some big names could be forgiven for looking over their shoulders.
Mathew Sinclair's recall amounted to a promising 36 and suicidal four while veteran Nathan Astle twice succumbed to spinner Muralitharan's trickery.
The switch to specialist openers also flattered to deceive as Jamie How's troubled run continued and Craig Cumming scored two of the luckier 43s in test history after he was caught off a no ball three times.
On a positive note, Vettori again came to the rescue at No 8, his 63 on Friday emphasising the string to his spinning bow.
Vettori, fresh from 86 and an unbeaten 120 in the State Championship, looked the most comfortable local at the crease against Muralitharan, who took seven for 99 from the match.
"He gets in at pressure times and responds in a positive way,' Fleming enthused.
"In this test, and in years to come it's (Vettori's batting) going to be massively vital for us."
Meawhile, Sri Lankan skipper Jayawardene, who also had a lean time by his high standards with scores of 8 and 0, was confident his side could bounce back from adversity, providing they get their own batting in order and give Muralitharan more runs to play with.
"We have the capacity to draw the series. There's a lot of hard work for us to do to make sure we're mentally prepared for Wellington. We intend to come back strong."
- NZPA