New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said his team had picked themselves "off the canvas" to beat Sri Lanka. New Zealand suffered heavy defeats away and then at home to Australia before the delayed series against Sri Lanka.
But after beating Sri Lanka by an innings in the second Test Fleming said: "We hit the canvas a few times this season but we got up.
"We were getting pretty groggy but we knew we had once chance to give the summer a bit of perspective."
He had told his players in no uncertain terms to improve rapidly after a lacklustre draw in the first Test in Napier.
 |  This game we made a pact to enjoy it and that shone through today |
And they responded by skittling Sri Lanka for 211 in the first innings and racked up 522-9 in response, thanks in no small part to Lou Vincent's 224.
"Players like Lou Vincent, who was threatening right from the first game gave a performance like this when we really needed it," Fleming said.
"We were just happy to be in a commanding position and enjoyed the fact we had a team under pressure for once.
"We'd been under the pump for so long we forget how to enjoy the game.
"This game we made a pact to enjoy it and that shone through today. It was a pretty flat wicket, it was a good effort to bowl them out in a day's play," he added.
They dismissed Sri Lanka for 273 in the second innings to win by an innings and 38 runs with a day to spare.
Sri Lanka captain Marvan Attapatu was philosophical about his side's performance without the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan and Nuwan Zoysa.
He said: "We have a lot of positives we can take from this tour and hopefully use them in tours to come."
Sri Lanka will return to New Zealand next summer to play the one-day series which was postponed because of the devastating Asian tsunami on Boxing Day.
MMIX
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