KEY POINTS:
Stephen Fleming believes an underlying sense of tension was behind the mercurial pace of the opening test match against Sri Lanka, which his side wrapped up by five wickets inside three days.
The New Zealand skipper said he could hardly remember another match that contained the same stress levels throughout, something he put down to his team's extended break from the test arena, and the quality of the Sri Lankan bowling attack.
New Zealand snared the tourists' final two second innings wickets for 45 runs on Saturday morning, and wiped off the 119 needed for victory for the loss of five wickets, in 33 overs.
Even then, there was still time for a couple of flutters as the hosts lost four wickets for 10 runs midway through the chase, slumping from 58 without loss to 68 for four before Nathan Astle, Jacob Oram and Brendon McCullum saw them through.
"If my feelings are anything to go by it was a very anxious test," Fleming said afterwards.
"There was a lot of anxiety and you could see and feel it back in our hotel rooms.
"We were trying to be as positive and as proactive as we could, but we just knew it was going to be tight in the end.
"It was a bit of a roller-coaster in terms of emotions; one of the more emotional tests I've played in terms of the strain, and the ebb and flow."
Fleming said the nature of the pitch and the Sri Lankan attack meant the contest was always going to be a war of attrition for his batsmen, with every run being weighed and counted as gold.
"The onus went on our bowlers to get 20 wickets - which is what they did - and we scraped together enough runs with a nitty-gritty-type of batting approach.
"It'll probably be the story of the series because I think Sri Lanka have one of the best test attacks ... They're always a threat because they've got one of the greatest bowlers that's played the game."
For all that, Fleming was delighted with the performance of his own attack, and said it was a good feeling to win a test when there was still room for improvement.
"I'd love a more complete performance but I'm pleased we're sitting here talking about complete performances after winning that test match.
"I'm pleased we've won a scrap. There was good composure at the right times."
Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene refused to concede that his decision to bat first had cost his team the game, suggesting the loss could be attributed to two hours of poor batting on Friday evening. Sri Lanka slumped to 46 for five and 80 for seven and did not put up a defendable lead.
Jayawardene said: "We competed with New Zealand throughout but two hours of irresponsible batting undid all the good work."
As for the toss, he insisted he'd do the same thing again.
"There was a little bit of grass on the first day but we knew it would wear off ... Murali is our match winner, so we give him the best opportunity possible."
* SCOREBOARD
Sri Lanka
First innings 154
Second innings
U. Tharanga c Fleming b Bond 24
S. Jayasuriya run out 10
K. Sangakkara not out 100
M. Jayawardene c Fleming b Franklin 0
C. Kapugedera c Oram b Bond 1
C. Silva c Vettori b Bond 0
P. Jayawardene run out 11
C. Vaas c McCullum b Oram 0
F. Maharoof c McCullum b Bond 7
L. Malinga c McCullum b Franklin 0
M. Muralitharan run out 8
Extras (5lb, 4nb) 9
---Total (53.1 overs) 170
Fall: 1/18, 2/44, 3/45, 4/46, 5/46, 6/74, 7/80, 8/99, 9/143.
Bowling: S. Bond 19.1-5-63-4 (3nb), C. Martin 11-2-38-0, J. Franklin 13-1-34-2 (1nb), J. Oram 7-1-19-1, D. Vettori 2-0-10-0, N. Astle 1-0-1-0.
New Zealand
First innings 206
Second innings
C. Cumming c P. Jayawardene b Vaas 43
J. How lbw b Muralitharan 11
M. Sinclair c Sangakkara b Muralitharan 4
S. Fleming lbw b Vaas 0
N. Astle lbw b Muralitharan 24
J. Oram not out 12
B. McCullum not out 14
Extras (1b, 1lb, 5w, 4nb) 11
--Total (for 5 wkts, 33 overs) 119
Fall: 1/58, 2/66, 3/66, 4/68 , 5/103.
Bowling: C. Vaas 13-3-38-2 (3nb), L. Malinga 4-1-35-0 (5w), M. Muralitharan 14-5-34-3, F. Maharoof 2-0-10-0 (1nb).
Result: New Zealand win by 5 wickets and lead series 1-0.
