What a game that was – it's certainly up there in the top two or three of the best Tests I've ever played in. I enjoyed it, too, except maybe the last half-hour or so, which was a bit stressful ... It wasn't a particularly close game – even with the late fireworks we still won by almost 100 runs, and all the big performances came from us – apart from one. It was an unbelievable onslaught from Nathan Astle. It is a bit easier when it's pretty much a hopeless cause and you're just teeing off at the ball, but still he struck it as well as anyone I've seen. There was no bowling to him at some stages, the ball was just disappearing everywhere.

It's nice to be one-up in an away series for a change. It's certainly better than 1-0 down after one game, which has happened rather a lot recently. I think the last time we won the first Test away was here in New Zealand ten years ago. We need to play at our best all the time, so we upped our work rate and were still battling on at the end.

I suppose this was a game of remarkable performances – my hundred, Hoggard's bowling in the first innings, Thorpe and Flintoff, and today Caddick and Astle.

Caddick's bowling was excellent – to take six wickets when the pitch was at its flattest speaks volumes for him. It was a top spell, with everything against him – flat wicket, fast outfield, short boundaries. The pitch just got better and better during the game, which is back to front, really. The authorities will have to keep an eye on these drop-in pitches – we just have to be careful we don't get too many topsy-turvy games.

My right hand is a little bit sore. I was trying to get my fingers under a low chance, and the middle finger got stuck in the ground and the ball smacked into it. The knuckle is a bit swollen, but I don't think it's broken – although you can never quite tell with my bones! I'm going to leave it overnight to see how it reacts, and if it gets worse I suppose I'll have to have an X-ray.

Mark Butcher, though, does have a very small crack in his thumb. He did it when he caught Lou Vincent off Caddick. He thinks he can still bat, but we'll review the position in 24 hours.

Apart from Butch's thumb and my finger we don't have any other worries. And what we do have is a day off. We'll be enjoying that before regrouping for the second Test at Wellington.

Nasser Hussain was talking to Steven Lynch. His thoughts will appear on Wisden.com, other duties permitting, at the end of each day of the Test series.

More Nasser Hussain
Another fantastic day
Full and focused

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