Every cloud has a silver lining and it's not what happens to you, it's all about how you react to what happens. For us kiwis, a lack of Test cricket can easily be flipped into gratitude for what Test cricket we do get, greater appreciation for rockin' the whites and enjoying the grit, graft and class that us kiwis are known for. Test wins then become even better and winning a Test series overseas? Well, that's a blossoming pohutukawa ain't it?

Before getting into the nitty gritty of this win in the third Test of the Blackcaps vs Pakistan series, there's one low key note that deserves plenty of spotlight; Gary Stead just won his first Test series as Blackcaps coach. Not only that, but he did so against a strong Pakistan team in the United Arab Emirates and with Australia taking a bit of a dip in their performances, playing vs Pakistan in UAE isn't too far behind playing India in India in terms of toughest overseas series'.

As always, judging a player or coach on one series is foolish. I'm more intrigued about the general vibe permeating from the Blackcaps group in the UAE under Stead and we'll see over time, the technical and skill-specific impact of Stead as head coach. Watching Ross Taylor in deep discussion with Stead on the sidelines - Taylor had plenty of time to chat as he averaged just 20.83 in the series - or the joy in celebrating individual performances, or seeing how Ajaz Patel and Will Somerville clearly came into a supportive environment, or perhaps most importantly the winning x-factor to snatch the game when it's sitting in the balance; all of that reflects well on the environment quickly created by Stead.

The Blackcaps had to take 10 wickets in less than a day to win the third Test. They did so without any contribution from Trent Boult - who didn't take a wicket @ 1.16rpo in 6 overs. Stead made a couple changes for the third Test, bringing in Tim Southee for Neil Wagner and Will Somerville for Ish Sodhi. Southee and Somerville took 3w each on the last day, while another fresh face in Ajaz Patel continued his streak of 1+ wicket in each innings he bowled in (5inns) to also take 3w.

Southee took more wickets in that one Test than Wagner took in two Tests (4w vs 3w) and Somerville did the same, taking 7w vs Sodhi's 3w. I'll run through all the ramifications of these performances in the coming days, as things are super funky with a full-seam crew needed to face Sri Lanka and then a four-way battle (assuming Mitchell Santner's all good) for one ... maybe two? ... spin spot. There's plenty of interesting ramifications from this series, or series win.

But Stead took a punt on Southee and Somerville, which worked. Fair enough as well, given that one of the best Test seamers of the past 24 months in Wagner was averaging 40 in this series and while Sodhi was also averaging 45, I reckon the decision to bring in Somerville was a combination of Sodhi not having a huge impact as well as Somerville and Patel spinning the ball different ways.

Let this serve as a reminder to be gentle on young spinners. Both Patel and Somerville are over 30yrs and oh, look at that; Yasir Shah and Bilal Asif are both over 30yrs (let alone the recently retired Rangana Herath, Nathan Lyon never had it easy either). To have a young spinner, like Sodhi or Santner, is great ... well it's great if you have the patience to ride the ups and downs of learning such a nifty craft. No one should be judging the careers of Sodhi and Santner based on what they've done through to their mid-20s, perhaps we might not see them truly hit their potential until they are closer to 30yrs.

If you're iffy on that idea, we now have two guys who smack you in the face as examples of how the long, windy road is ideal for a spinner. Hence if you're iffy on the idea, I can't help you because you've been smacked in the face and still chose to ignore it. Both Sodhi and Santner were thrown into the international mix early in their 20s, which I love and hope they are nurtured even more from this point. For spinners especially though, the true rewards come once a spinner has endured all the highs, lows, twists and turns of life through their 20s.

Somerville and Patel were epic as a duo. We saw Somerville's bag of tricks, assembled in the decade he spent toiling in tough spinning conditions, led by the arm-ball and then the variation in bounce offered by his height. In his first Test series, Patel bowled 135.5 overs and Somerville bowled 56ov (one Test). Sure, conditions were favourable in terms of spinning pitches but to do your job as a spinner, bowling that many overs in heat and against batsmen who are comfortable with the environment, is a bloody good effort.

No Test series win comes without runs from Kane Williamson. The big dawg, Lord Williamson, finished as the leading run-scorer of the series (both teams) and without his 89 and 139 in the third Test, Aotearoa would have been stuck. Instead, Williamson does what he does best in terms of leading the way and the class of Williamson is evident in his strike-rate of 52.16 which was considerably better than the next two best run-scorers...

Williamson: 386 runs @ 52.16r.

Azhar Ali: 307 runs @ 42.11sr.

Henry Nicholls: 287 runs @ 40.02sr.

That's because Williamson's the best ever.

The funkiest kiwi batsman though, was Nicholls. A century in the last batting innings of the series, to help take the kiwis up to a competitive total, to go with two half-centuries earlier in the series and Nicholls has anchored himself in at #5 for the kiwi summer.

Niggly stuff like Jeet Raval, Taylor and Tom Latham all averaging in the early 20s for this series, is absorbed by Nicholls standing up to average 57.40. As we settle into a groove now of a bit more Test cricket, these pieces of the puzzle have to be noted because in the future it may be Nicholls and Williamson who struggle, while other batsmen score runs. Ideally, everyone's in the runs. Everyone goes through their own individual battle though and as long as there are contributions scattered throughout the batting line up - Williamson, Nicholls and BJ Watling (34.80avg) - the Blackcaps will be in the contest.

Being in the contest, then having a killer instinct to fuck up the contest is my one vibe to take away from this series. There were moments, most notably in the 2nd Test but also scattered throughout the two wins, where the Blackcaps faltered, were out-played by Pakistan but the kiwis kept fighting, kept toiling. The moments scattered throughout the two wins are the most telling as they showcased an ability to stick around, then go in for the kill.

Even under the B-Mac vibes of enjoying your cricket and being aggressive, playing your natural game etc, I wouldn't suggest a killer instinct was front and centre of that. Perhaps that often led to falling out of the contest because 'natural game' and 'hanging in there' don't always align. In coach Stead's first series, the Blackcaps absorbed the ups and downs before snatching a series win. Let's ride this new wave back to Aotearoa and see how the Blackcaps Test group builds on this tremendous Test series win.

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Peace and love 27.