It's usually the case that when an Asian side travels to Aotearoa, they struggle to come to grips with the change in conditions - as we do when we travel the opposite way. The performance of the Sri Lankan batsmen, or lack there of was partly to do with this but it was also in part due to a group of men from the land of Aotearoa who have mastered the art, the ancient art of swing.

A large portion of the deliveries bowled by Trent Boult especially, but also Tim Southee and Neil Wagner were unplayable and would have ripped the nightie of many an international batsman. Trying to face Boult would be a nightmare as he's able to nip it both ways without much change in his action. You'll get a few coming in to your pads as a right hander then you'll get one that looks exactly the same but goes away. Kumar Sangakkara was lured in to a drive thanks to a full delivery around his off stick. Said delivery outside off stick then swung late and took the outside edge, not a whole lot you can do there. 

You have to appreciate the work of Wagner. Given the nod ahead of Doug Bracewell, Wagnut did exactly what would have been asked of him and got the rewards he deserved. All that was missing in this performance from the Stable was seeing Bracewell take a few, but the performance of Wagner keeps the bar high for selection in the 11. The Stable is still strong and Jimmy Neesham did his job as the 4th seamer.

It was a fantastic effort from the Stable, which was rewarded with the Sri Lankans being forced to follow on. The beauty of Test cricket is that it's difficult and seeing the morning's action left me wanting some fight from Sri Lanka. That's how the day ended as the Sri Lankan openers were able to rectify a few of their mistakes and bat out the rest of the day without loosing a wicket, top cricket.

While the Stable did everything asked of them and everything fell their way to skittle Sri Lanka, Test cricket is a test. This is a test for the Stable as Sri Lanka won't be too keen on being put to shame again. They'll be eager to bat for as much of day 3 as possible, the runs will take care of themselves if that's the case. The Black Caps will need to create wickets, here's where the Stable, the skipper and the fielding unit will need to impress.