Chris Cairns: New boys shine on big stage

It's a great feeling being able to sit back and watch your two young guys perform at the highest level.

I have to admit I've been a big fan of Jamie How for a long time now - ever since I saw him bat in a final of the State Shield two years ago when Central Districts thrashed Canterbury at Jade Stadium. He's got a game suited to international cricket with the areas he scores in and that was borne out yesterday.

I've seen Peter Fulton play for a long time now and he's always struck me as a patient player. The success he's had in the New Zealand A set-up, where he was handed the captaincy, has really increased his stature in the game.

They made a nice contrast yesterday with Jamie very strong off the back foot and Fults so comfortable off the front foot.

It's good to see but we shouldn't forget it was all set up by the bowlers so those guys could come in and play under no scoreboard pressure, knowing they weren't going to lose us the game. It's a great environment in which to play a knock and they both took full advantage of it.

We also have to remember Sri Lanka have just come off playing two months on the subcontinent and will play a lot better.

It's a completely different game. They've probably had about two practices here and to come out and play four guys who are six-foot plus and get bounce was a hard ask.

With Shane Bond back and Kyle Mills bowling so well, we'll get good starts. So it's up to Jacob Oram and me to back it up and keep the pressure on. That's why it was nice to see Jake return to form with the ball yesterday.

It's a balanced attack. On slow wickets, we've got Dan Vettori and Scott Styris who come in and on bouncy wickets we've got seamers who are difficult to get away.

On a personal note, I struggled for rhythm. I had a couple of overs that went for a lot of runs. Everything else went OK, so there's a few things I'll be working on to find my rhythm for Christchurch.

With this group of guys, everyone has to pull their weight.

Now we've got nearly everybody back, we've got a pretty powerful unit and it bodes very well for the future.

It's been great for Dan to get this experience leading the side. Stephen Fleming is our captain, let's get that straight, and Dan is only caretaker, but the experience can only put us in good stead for the future.

With four games in eight days, it's a real opportunity for us to grab this series by the throat. It'd be nice to think about a sweep, but they've got a lot of quality players so we won't get too far ahead of ourselves.