New Zealand have a mantra, according to captain Brendon McCullum, and they followed it on the final day of the three-day pink ball test at Adelaide Oval yesterday.
Although beaten by three wickets in a rattling good finish, McCullum liked the fighting spirit his team showed.
Defending just 187 in the final innings, New Zealand pushed hard through the final two sessions.
They gave Australia a serious scare, as left armer Trent Boult saved his best for last in the rubber, taking five for 60 to come desperately close to snaring what would have been a staggering victory.
"It was an outstanding test, closely fought and we'd dearly have loved an extra few runs today. It's pretty hard to separate the two teams over the last two tests," McCullum said.
New Zealand were rolled for 208 in their second innings in the first session yesterday, and another 30 runs may have made all the difference with Boult having the pink ball hooping around in the night air.
"We've got a bit of a mantra that if you are going to get beaten then make it bloody tough for the opposition," McCullum said.
"Over the last two tests we've stepped up and played some really good cricket and can take a lot of positives out of it"
Chief among them was the debut performance of allrounder Mitchell Santner. Apart from spilling a regulation catch off Australian captain Steve Smith on one, which could have been costly, the Northern Districts player looked the part.
He made 31 and 45 - second top and top scores in New Zealand's innings' - and bowled tidily in Australia's first innings, picking up his first test wicket.
"I thought he was outstanding," McCullum said.
"You always hope when a guy makes his debut he'll be quite unflappable. He is the most laidback bloke I've ever seen make his debut.
"He's shown everyone he has a huge future in this game and we're incredibly lucky we've got two very good allrounders at home in Corey Anderson and Jimmy Neesham.
"Mitchell has put his hand up and said 'don't forget about me'.
"For us to have three potentially world-class allrounders is a good problem to have."
Australian skipper Steve Smith praised the bowlers of both sides for their skill in admittedly helpful conditions.
He had no beef with the challenges for the batsmen on a pitch which has more grass left on it, partly to help the pink ball stay in reasonable condition.
"It was just a game that was dominated by the bowlers," he said. "They really took advantage of that little period under lights with the new ball.
"If you got yourself in, you could still score runs. It wasn't to be this game for a lot of batters. We got starts, we just couldn't go on with it.
"[But] if you're willing to have a game plan and bat some time you can certainly score runs."
Only three batsmen in the match - New Zealand opener Tom Latham, Smith and Australian wicketkeeper Peter Nevill - managed to reach 50.
Smith, the world's second-equal-ranked batsman with New Zealand's Kane Williamson behind South African AB de Villiers, wasn't about to quibble that bowlers had a test to savour after copping batsman-friendly conditions in the first two tests in Brisbane and Perth.
"I think it was great to see something different. The first two test matches have been dominated by the bat so it's great to ... see the bowlers really coming into their own."
