Australia had braced for conditions at Adelaide Oval to differ from the "batting paradise" typically expected of its pitches. But the extent to which batsmen struggled would have exceeded even the most pessimistic of expectations.
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Never before in the 73 Tests played at the venue since 1884 had no team managed to reach 250, a total New Zealand's Ross Taylor exceeded on his own a fortnight earlier in Perth.
Only once in the past decade had Australia hosted a Test where so few runs were scored: in 2011-12 in Hobart, the Test the Black Caps memorably won to unexpectedly draw that series.
Australia won the toss in all four preceding Adelaide Tests and had no hesitation in batting first, making at least 500 on each occasion. The contentious change to a drop-in pitch before the 2013-14 Ashes, to accommodate AFL football at the venue in the winter, initially did nothing to change that reputation. Only England, who crumbled for 172 in their first innings in 2013-14, showed significant vulnerability batting in Adelaide.
The pitch that greeted the teams for this match was conspicuously greener than usual, a trait which aided the resilience of the pink ball, but it was not unplayable, as could be inferred based on what both teams delivered with the bat - or, more accurately, what they did not deliver.
Any suggestion the Black Caps' score of 202 was underwhelming has been countered by what followed, as even the home team struggled to score fluently. Not since 1990 have we seen a Test at a regular Australian Test venue where the highest innings score for the match was 224, as occurred here in the Black Caps' second innings.
As much as Josh Hazlewood stepped up in the absence of Mitch Starc the inescapable conclusion, as New Zealand's last three partnerships lasted for 16 overs and added 68 runs, was that Australia missed the left-armer's ability to blast out the tail.
While the first pink-ball Test has confirmed expectations the pink ball swings more under floodlights the batsmen have not profited under natural light as much as expected.
On days two and three the team that started at the crease - Australia on day two, New Zealand on day three - shed a combined 10 wickets in the first sessions for the addition of only 153 runs.
The inaugural pink-ball Test was unrecognisable to the match that preceded it in Perth. Even though batting milestones were scarce at Adelaide Oval, the contest was far more compelling than the draw between the teams at the WACA Ground on a pitch skewed too far in favour of the batsmen.
