Rating time
Latham 5/10 - played bloody well at Hagley actually. Got NZ off to a solid start on the morning of day 1, and then set them up beautifully on day 2. Still can't pass 80 to save his life, but honestly, who else is there who can make it to 30? Certainly not...
Young 2/10 - only scrapes to 2 by virtue of the fact that he manage to chew up a decent number of balls during his stays at the crease. Just not a test opener. Maybe a decent test 5, but with Daz in the side he's not getting a shot.
KW 4/10 - crushing series for those of us who insisted so ardently that he's not a minnow basher. You can probably give him a pass at the Basin, but at Hagley he finally had a guilt edged opportunity to leave his mark on an NZ v AUS test, and one moment of misjudgement was all Patman needed.
Rachin 7/10 - looks the goods. Still raw as a freshly gutted fish, but hopefully he'll learn. Needs to work on his fielding drills though.
Mitchell 6/10 - the numbers don't look that flash with a sub-30 average but played 2 really gritty 2nd innings knocks in extremely challenging circumstances. Probably the 2nd best bat in the side.
Blundell 2/10 - boy Blundell's had a **** 12 months since that epic series v England. Keeping looks a bit sloppy as well, even if he remains pretty sharp to any stumping opportunities.. Hopefully he can take some inspiration from Carey's innings today and turn things around.
Phillips 6/10 - very mixed bag for Glenn. After a great start he ended up with pretty disappointing returns with the bat for such a talented guy. His spin bowling was borderline batting all-rounder quality though, and he brings so much in the field to what is otherwise a dreadful set of catchers.
Henry 10/10 - couldn't realistically ask for more. I'm not surprise he gassed today, he'd been bowling 9-10 over spells 3 days in a row, can't blame him that the rest of the attack couldn't capitalise on the opportunities he created.
Southee 1/10 - thanks for the great career Tim!
Kugz 0/10 - **** off SP!
O'Rourke - 5/10, bowled with surprisingly good pace. I think he's actually a naturally quicker bowler than Sears, the ball seems to come out much more effortlessly, feels like he could bowl in that high-130's low-140's range with comparatively little effort. His lengths were all wrong for day 1 at the Basin, but he didn't leak too many runs and picked up a couple of important wickets.
Sears 7/10 - now that's more like it! Youth (well comparatively, he is 26), enthusiasm, aggression. Couldn't get the job done but showed a glimpse of the fast bowling potential he has, and the wider talent that's floating around in the Plunket Shield. Wayward admittedly, but a lot to like, hope he gets more opportunities.