So far in the two test's between the Black Caps and Pakistan we've seen some pretty awesome cricket. It's been different, different to the stock standard that we get in New Zealand as the Black Caps have faced a team at the peak of their powers in their territory (well, kind of).

The Black Caps have already put together a display that on the whole is better than Australia, with the Aussies completely out played in nearly every session. You could say that perhaps Pakistan are feeling the effects of playing so much test cricket back to back, with the Black Caps catching them on the back of a test series. A bit of fatigue, lessening the form of Pakistan ... but only an Australian would say that. While Pakistan have had an extraordinary month or so, it's a kiwi who heads the best batsman list for this series. Tom Latham has the most runs so far in the series with 269 and an average of 67.25, he's been rewarded for adopting the sweep shot and showing some patience. His opening partner Brendon McCullum has 145 runs in 4 digs with the bat at an average of 36.25. That leaves us with an opening pair who average 67 and 36 respectively, which given New Zealand's history with openers is pretty sweet.

Latham's been the anchor, with a strike rate of 47.95 while McCullum as per his nature has scored his runs slightly quicker at 64.44. This opening pair hasn't been perfect, but they have got the Black Caps off to decent, solid starts which haven't really been pounced on by Kane Williamson. The Prince has been struggling, he's averaging 17.24 and has scored 69 runs in his 4 at bats. Ouch. Good starts are only as good as what comes next and the usually sensational Williamson has struggled, despite looking glorious at times.

Luckily, in the 2nd test Ross Taylor came out and banged a century but that's not a fair reflection of his series so far. Like Williamson, Taylor has struggled. Besides his 104 in his last bat, he's scored 31 runs in 3 innings. A quick word about Taylor, the reason why his century was very handy was that he scored it at a good clip in a similar fashion to McCullum. He's an attacking player and opted to play the cut shot nearly every ball because it's a run scoring option as well as a defensive option. His 104 came off 133 balls at a strike rate of 78.19 which is pretty swift, especially compared to his first innings - 23 off 71 at 32.39.

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If the Black Caps can get decent contributions from all of their top 4, they'll not only score more runs but I'd expect them to score them quicker. While we've got good contributions from our lower order with Ish Sodhi and Mark Craig averaging 61 and 26.50 respectively, you'd have to expect McCullum, Williamson and Taylor to be able to hit more boundaries and rotate the strike better ... they are our best batsmen after all. Taylor's found some form so hopefully he can kick on, McCullum has again shown he's skilled facing spin in the sub-continent and he'll be looking to add to his 40's but the missing piece is Williamson who just simply has to find some form. If we can get two innings where as a trio, they click then the Black Caps could find themselves in the box seat.

The only real information you need to note for the bowlers is that the 3 leading wicket takers are Zulfiqar Babar - 13, Yasir Shah - 11 and Rahat Ali with 7. The Black Caps have Ish Sodhi taking 5 wickets and Tim Southee and Trent Boult each with 4. None of these 3 kiwi bowlers have taken their wickets at an average lower than 40, Pakistan's best are all below 29. You can put this down to the Pakistani batsmen eating bowlers like ours for breakfast, they offer nothing new especially as they haven't trundled towards the crease in such conditions frequently.

This shouldn't be depressing, it should be encouraging as the Black Caps are only a few steps away from putting a 4/4.5 star performance on the board (5 stars is perfect so don't expect that). The keys are our big 3 with the bat, most importantly Kane Williamson who needs to chip in and our bowlers making progress. The bowlers have bowled in 2 test's, they've improved from test to test as well as learning lots in the process. A successful 3rd test depends on whether our bowlers can put in to action what they've learned so far.