Three Tests in Aotearoa this summer and after defeating India in first of two Tests, the Blackcaps have two wins and a draw in the land of the long white cloud. While the mark of a nek level Blackcaps Test team is winning, or fighting hard for draws overseas, I'm basking in the work of the Blackcaps on home soil given how weird, muddled and tricky the series in Australia was.

A lot is changing in Blackcaps land, although shuffling of different pieces in and around the Blackcaps is being sprinkled around a hearty core group of Test cricketers and we have seen the benefits of this in the series vs England and now against India. England came to Aotearoa with a Test squad that was near the beginning of their journey, giving blokes time to settle in and giving others an opportunity while some certified Test players were out injured. Aotearoa on the other hand were too good for England via their Test experience and knowledge of all the tough patches that Test cricket in Aotearoa can throw up.

The core unit, grizzly cricketers who have seen a lot and have invested in establishing how this Blackcaps Test team operates, were why the Blackcaps defeated England 1-0. That came with Tom Blundell and Matt Henry doing their duties for the team, sans any fuss, as well as integrating Lockie Ferguson and Daryl Mitchell around the core group.

Come the tour to Australia and shit hit the fan as the core group was stripped away, in extremely tough conditions to tour. Fresh players were worked in to the Test squad and team, however this was more of a 'being chucked in the deep end' kinda scenario and that's generally not what you want in venturing across the ditch.

Now we have a series back in Aotearoa and the Blackcaps enjoyed the perfect mix. The crew of Aotearoa's best cricketers were brought back together and despite missing Neil Wagner, we were again graced with a fine example of a lovely Blackcaps culture as Kyle Jamieson graced his comrades and kiwi fans with strong all-round contributions on debut. Blundell did fairly well in his first Test, Mitchell scored runs on his Test debut and even Glenn Phillips scored runs on his Test debut; now Jamieson's followed suit.

A summer of transition and transformation naturally lends itself to mayhem, being all over the show and simply trying to survive while the status-quo is disrupted. We've seen this with the Blackcaps as this summer definitely hasn't been 'smooth' and even though these waters have been murky, at different points we have seen key elements of this Blackcaps Test unit shine. This first Test vs India showed that like the first Test against England, that if the Blackcaps have their 1st 11 (or five-six core members) and are in Aotearoa, they are a nightmare to deal with. At various points of this summer, we have also seen that this environment is nicely suited to getting the best out of the new lads.

9 wickets for Tim Southee, 5w for Trent Boult and 4w for Jamieson. Southee's work obviously catches the eye and ol' mate is a bit of a lightning rod for attention, even though Southee's rather good at swing bowling. Southee averages 40+ in Australia and South Africa, only two countries and two countries that tend to favour quicker, bouncier bowlers which is off-set by averaging 25.12 in 'Asia' and 23.71 in West Indies where slower spin is viewed as more being more useful.

I view this as Southee being a crafty mofo and in Australia his bowling tends to look like gentle mediums with little movement. This Test featured the kiwi bowlers showing off glorious seam position and variety in how they did so, led by Southee who has his seam pointing towards first/second slip - away from the right-handed batsman. Flip that around for Boult, while Jamieson's tended to be straight up, or quietly angling in to righties and Colin de Grandhomme has the wobbles.

When I think of Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma, their seam position was always angling into righties via a wrist position that is always pointing inwards through the delivery. This is nice for reverse swing or the nifty skill of angling, nipping the ball into righties/away from lefties and this posed troubles for the Blackcaps batsmen. This however, didn't appear conducive to swinging the ball on command as Southee and his off-siders did.

Whether it's his ability to move the ball how he wants with swing and the switch up that doesn't swing, or Southee's famed use of the crease; Southee's a bit of a wizard in the right situation. Southee has also low key had an impressive two-and-a-bit-year stretch after averaging 30+ with the ball in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Since then Southee has averaged under 30 for 2018, 2019 and he has started 2020 off in similar fashion.

Boult snared four of India's top-five in the second innings, which was immense in the context of the game to remind us of the beauty in the Boult/Southee combo. Touring teams are always going to have to adjust in coming to Aotearoa - such is the nature of Test cricket - and while that would be some what challenging, it's a whole different beast to face Boult/Southee in Aotearoa. This is important because we have to remind ourselves about the key pillars of the Blackcaps Test team, that have got Aotearoa to this position in Test cricket where they are highly respected and a force on home turf; two world-class batsmen and two world-class swingers.

Those are the fundamentals and yeah, Tom Latham's a world-class batsman and BJ Watling's the toughest bugger in the world and Neil Wagner's steaming in all day. The Test team is built around the four top-tier lads, some of Aotearoa's greatest cricketers ever and with those pillars in place, in Aotearoa, this is the result.

Ponder for a second how if Mitchell Santner was playing ahead of Ajaz Patel, it feels highly likely that this Test would have played out in similar fashion. Weird huh?

The Blackcaps only really batted once, with Williamson's 89 the top score. Very nifty 40-odds from Ross Taylor, Colin de Grandhomme and Kyle Jamieson, along with Trent Boult's 38, bumped the Blackcaps first innings total up to the competitive 348.

Williamson came into 2020 averaging 50+ for three straight years, the first time in his career where he has had an annual average over 50 for three straight years. When fielding first as was the case in this Test, Williamson averages 62.48 and when the Blackcaps win, Williamson averages 74.35.

The only niggly point in the Blackcaps batting line up is Henry Nicholls, who hasn't gone 50+ in 10inns and that's the longest lean patch of Nicholls' Test career. Something to keep an eye on in this second Test and the last Test for a while as Nicholls was otherwise on a completely different run-scoring streak; 120, 62, 55 (Ford Trophy), 78, 41 and 80 (ODI vs India).

Some are viewing this as a big bounce back moment for the Blackcaps after their trip to Australia. I lean towards a return to what we know and love about the Blackcaps Test team, after the mess that was Australia and the three Tests in Australia were important in the sense of shaking things up, amplifying the transition/transformation vibe of the summer. This Test win is cut from the same cloth as the win in Tauranga over England and in both instances, the Blackcaps showcased their Test cricket experience, skill and team culture to get the best out of those around them.

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Peace and love 27.