Day two didn't offer a whole lot to really explore in any great depth, although it (along with day one) set up this first Test nicely. The kiwi bowlers can't be faulted for their efforts today as Tim Southee and Trent Boult showed how tough a proposition they are in Aotearoa, while Doug Bracewell, Neil Wagner and Mitchell Santner all played their part in a solid day's cricket.

Heck, we even saw reverse swing.

Dimuth Karunaratne (84) and Dinesh Chandimal (83*) showed their younger pups how to face good bowling in tough-ish conditions as they left and defended admirably. That's the key to batting in Aotearoa and it's good to see Sri Lanka's senior batsmen standing up when they were called on as Kusal Mendis and Udara Jayasundera both fell early. Angelo Mathews was unlucky to get a faint edge on a delivery straying down leg, leaving Chandimal and Kithuruwan Vithanage not out over night.

As is usually the case, Chandimal and Vithanage would like to at least work their way to drinks tomorrow. Regardless of how much swing and seam there is, batsmen are their most vulnerable early on in their innings and with a gang of bowlers who can extract any movement from the pitch and in the air, Sri Lanka need established batsmen going big.

Sri Lanka will simply looking to bat as long as they can. While we love to sing about Brendon McCullum's desire to attack, Sri Lanka are away from home and fighting to just stay in this Test so there's no need from them to 'move the game along'.

That responsibility falls on the shoulders of McCullum and his bowlers. We've seen on both day one and day two that bowlers have been rewarded for their toil so the kiwi bowlers will know that they are in with a chance, they just gotta keep them lines and lengths nice and tight.

I reckon this is perfectly set up for Wagner and Santner to shine tomorrow. I just have a gut-feel about Wagner while Santner continues to impress and while Sri Lanka are handy players of spin, they could also be keen to up the ante against Santner.

Day two wouldn't have pleased the casual cricket fan, yet it was a tough day of cricket and that's what we love about Test cricket.