Doug Bracewell and Neil Wagner are locked in as New Zealand's third and fourth choice seamer behind Tim Southee and Trent Boult. They have different strengths. Bracewell's figures at University Oval? 40.2-11-88-1. Wagner finished with 42-8-143-5. Yet Bracewell is likely still in front should one have to make way for a second spinner for the second test starting at Hamilton on Friday. His figures were misleading. Two catches were spilled off him and he bowled without luck. Wagner was full of energy and vim, was rewarded with five wickets and played a major part in the bowling success. He was also far more hittable. A case of different strokes.
3. Sri Lanka's batting is a work in progress
If Sri Lanka are to prosper in the second test, they'll have to get runs from three players - captain Angelo Mathews, opener Dimuth Karunaratne and middle order key man Dinesh Chandimal. In these post-Sangakkara/Jayawardene days, Sri Lanka are finding their feet.
Three batsmen at Dunedin had played none, one and two tests. It showed. Productivity is needed urgently. But this is no West Indies basket case. Expect the likes of Milinda Siriwardana, in particular, and opener Kusal Mendis to become effective contributors with time and tests behind them.
Dylan Cleaver
1. New Zealand are a better team with Neil Wagner in the side
This could be a tricky balancing act because Mike Hesson and Brendon McCullum have of late preferred Doug Bracewell in that third seamer's role and, truth be told, he's probably a better cricketer than Wagner (though Wagner's bowling average is superior to Bracewell's).
But sometimes the intangibles stare you in the face until they're impossible to ignore. Since the beginning of the 2013-14 season, Wagner has played in seven tests - New Zealand have won six of them and drawn the other. In the same timeframe, Bracewell has played five and NZ have won two, drawn one and lost two.
The quick among you will recognise that those losses were away to Australia, which Wagner did not play, but which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Wagner plays with a energy that is infectious. He bowls some really bad spells, but he never bowls a flat spell. When Corey Anderson or Jimmy Neesham come back into selection contention, there won't be room for a fourth specialist seamer and you could argue that Anderson's left-armers would make the need for Wagner a bit redundant but I'd caution against that thinking.
This is a guy who will empty his tanks whether it's a flat pitch or crooked; whether it's steamier than a bikram session or whether the southerly is blowing off the Antarctic straight across University Oval. Bracewell might end up being the better bowler, but he's not the more valuable one just yet.
2. Sri Lanka are weak
Few sides in the world would cope well with the loss of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara in quick succession but they might have had a better succession plan than Sri Lanka.
If Angelo Mathews has a poor test, like he did at Dunedin, then they're in big trouble. Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal battled hard, but Sri Lanka's line-up looked awfully limited. Apart from the odd wormburner, this track was one that you could have established base camp upon and settled in for days.
Just ask these two...
3. This was an important match for NZ's openers
Martin Guptill took home the trinkets for Man of the Match, and we'll get to his (hopefully) breakthrough knock soon enough, but this test was equally important for his mate at the top of the order.
Tom Latham looks like a fixture in this side and he's done that by turning himself from a wicketkeeper/ middle-order batsman to an unfussy, compact opener. Unfortunately, he'd also developed a frustrating habit of being dismissed just when it seemed he was well-set. His tour of Australia was an exercise in carefully crafted middling scores.
When he chipped insipidly back to the bowler on 22 in the first innings the pattern continued. So he needed that second innings hundred to quell a few niggling questions. He now has three centuries from his first 15 tests. When you look at NZ's years of futility at the top of the order, that is a fine return.
Guptill also has three centuries, though from 37 mainly frustrating tests and the other two were against the minnow attacks of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.
After a poor tour to Australia where his technique and then lack of confidence was exposed, Guptill probably had this series to prove to selectors he was ready to face them again in the return series. He did that in spades with a double of 156 and 46 (unluckily bowled by one that refused to bounce).
There are still a few technical gremlins to keep working on, particularly his tendency to push hard in defence and bring slips and gully into play, but he knows he can score against the red ball now and that should assuage any confidence issues for the rest of the summer.
