"Will's had a very short Test career so far, and he's certainly announced himself," Southee said after the match. "We saw in New Zealand how dangerous he can be. He's got the skills to have a very good Test career. For him to come to his first Test in the subcontinent and walk away with a very impressive eight wickets for the match is nothing short of special. He's got a great head on his shoulders, and he's a big guy. So there's a lot to like about Will O'Rourke."

"Rachin kept us in the hunt with that chase," Southee said. "We knew it was [a] tough ask, and that it was going to take something special, with the wicket taking a lot of turn in these last couple of days. It was a great knock in those conditions.

"It's not easy to bat - the ball was spinning, and doing all sorts [of things]. For a young guy without a lot of experience in this part of the world to go out and get 90-odd was great signs for him as well. He's another one that's an exceptional talent, and he's had a little taste of international cricket as well, and done exceptionally well. He's a great young kid with a good head on his shoulders."

For Southee, it was New Zealand's batting collapse on the third morning that was the definitive portion of the match. They had been 255 for 4 in their first innings overnight, only 50 runs adrift of Sri Lanka's total. But they then lost six wickets for 71 runs, as the middle and lower orders succumbed to finger spinners Prabath Jayasuriya and Ramesh Mendis. In the end, their lead was only 35, when it had threatened to be much more.

"I guess the position where we got ourselves in, in the first innings, was good. But the last four or five fell for not many, and there was an opportunity to get a bigger first-innings lead," he said. "We knew that that second new ball was going to be tough given the nature of the wicket and the quality of the Sri Lankan spin bowlers.

"If you look at those moments, if we were able to press on and get more of a lead, things could have been different. It was still a good Test match. There's plenty of good things we can take into the next couple of days."