Through the combination of a series already settled, various adornments for the retiring Tim Southee and fancy dress on the grass banks, this final Test could easily have taken on an end-of-term feel. Fast and loose cricket often bubbles up when players are tired and the finish line is in sight.
But the opening day of the tour’s finale was uncompromising stuff from both teams and no less of a spectacle for it. There was New Zealand batting determinedly, perhaps driven by atonement for the 2-0 scoreline as much as signing off Southee with a win, while England’s eamers hammered away with little sign of their edge having been dulled by a recent golfing trip to Lake Taupo.
