New Zealand entered the second Test against England 1-0 down, having also lost one of their greatest batters in Kane Williamson, who retired mid-series. After achieving parity at The Oval, they then lost Glenn Phillips (side) and Matt Henry (calf) to injuries. Then during the final Test at Trent Bridge they had to contend with Blair Tickner being concussed out of the game. Ben Sears was hit twice on his bowling hand, Will O'Rourke suffered a split finger and Daryl Mitchell wore multiple blows on his body, but New Zealand still found a way to turn the tables on England and clinch the series 2-1.
New Zealand head coach Rob Walter has hailed the team's bloody-mindedness and composure to beat the odds that were heavily stacked against them.
"I think sometimes the game has got to a point where we sort of turn our focus to the next thing so quickly that very often we don't fully appreciate the things that the team achieves or has achieved, and in particular," Walter said at his post-series interaction. Yeah, just to really savour what was achieved yesterday, especially amidst all the sort of challenges of the actual Test match in the last 18 hours of the game.
"It was a massive achievement and I'm sort of hugely respectful and proud of the performance of the guys and the efforts of the squad - just the way that everyone mucked in when they needed to and just showed pure grit and determination to ultimately get that result done and the result of the series. Also, not to just put a microscope on the last game, but the series as a whole and everything that took place from, you know, from our preparation in Lincoln all the way through to the last day yesterday."
Zak Foulkes wasn't supposed to take part in the series-decider in Trent Bridge and has been on the road for three months, including in the IPL, without much game-time. But after he was called up as a concussion substitute for Tickner, he hit the ground running and crashed Ben Stokes' farewell by taking him out in both innings.
"You have Zak Foulkes who comes in and steps in as his [Tickner's] replacement and does an incredible job and impacts the game significantly," Walter said. "So whilst obviously there's different sub rules for different reasons, and this is just one of them in cricket. You had one player missing out, unfortunately.
"But then what you do need is someone to come in and impact the game. And Foulkes, he did that incredibly well. Again, [he's] a very understated operator, but with a wonderful skill set that he's developing. He will look back and say that he was part of an incredible, historic win."
In the post Trent Boult-Tim Southee era, the Black Caps have built up serious depth in their seam bowling and Nathan Smith is another example. He emerged as New Zealand's Player of the Series, coming away with a chart-topping 16 wickets at an average of 23, and dipping into his county cricket experience.
"He's hugely important [to the team]," Walter said of Smith. "He flies under the radar sometimes probably not appreciated [enough] for the skill-set that he's developed over time as a genuine ability to move the ball, has knowledge with that Dukes ball and a really good action to utilise what the Dukes ball does bring and the English conditions bring.
"In four varied conditions and surfaces, if I go back to the Ireland Test, he was able to be effective across all four, so he's a massive player for us. You know, I tell him he's one of my warriors that needs to go out there and just keep coming. I believe he's got huge potential with the bat and I know he will realise it. And he will just continue to keep working on it because he's hungry and it does provide great balance."
Blundell stands up to be counted
Walter also delivered a glowing appraisal of Tom Blundell's ninja-like moves, standing up to the stumps and pinning England's batters to the crease. Blundell took a leaf out of Alex Carey's Ashes playbook and demonstrated his own excellent technique and reflexes, especially while standing up to Matt Henry at The Oval.
"Myself and both Toms [Latham and Blundell] have spoken about the importance of standing up to the stumps. I guess we did see in the Ashes the impact that that could have," Walter said. "You would have seen this pitch in the last game - it can't be fun standing up to the stumps knowing that you don't actually know where the ball is going to end up from a bounce point of view. But he did an incredible job across the series. He probably goes unnoticed for his glovework and he didn't go unnoticed in this Test because of the impact that he had.
"As far as strategy and tactics go, it was incredibly important. I think he executed it unbelievably well, in very tricky conditions. Ultimately, there's no column on Cricinfo for the impact that he's had on this Test series [standing up to the stumps]. And there probably should be."
Since being appointed New Zealand's permanent Test captain, Latham has overseen two historic away series victories in India and England in less than 20 months. Walter said that the skipper has set the template for the team to emulate.
"Tom sets such a great example through just his behaviour," Walter said. "So if Tom Latham asks you to do something, you probably do it for him because he's setting the bar himself and setting the standards in the group himself. And he's not very emotional; [he] certainly doesn't ride the waves at all. This group of players really respects that in him because our messaging is always very clear and very simple. And he's a guy that lives it.
"I think as a leader, just observing, he sets the standards of the team. And he appreciates it, but he does it so naturally. So yeah, I've got massive respect for Tom and the way he handles himself and has handled himself in England because it's not easy. There's a lot of media attention. A lot of it, you know, there's a lot of noise that sits around the actual games itself."