A spot in the World Test Championship final is like that "carrot in mind" which keeps pushing teams to give their best, said New Zealand captain Kane Williamson after his side beat Pakistan in the first Test, in Mount Maunganui on Wednesday.
Pakistan fought hard in the match and looked good to hold on to a draw but lost six wickets for 31 runs to lose the Test by 101 runs.
New Zealand are placed third in the WTC while the top two teams will fight it out for the championship.
"Absolutely, we want to play the World Test Championship final, and we saw it in the final session today, when there was that carrot in mind," said Williamson at the post-match presentation.
"But in Tests, you know that it's all about going moment by moment, and that's what you play with. We did make the declaration that if the wicket doesn't deteriorate, it would have given them a chance. They had some positive players at the crease, and some more to come."
Williamson said WTC means "you give yourself a chance to win a game, but also lose it."
"It gave the viewers that spectacle, with three possible results going into the final session. I think we saw similar characteristics on this wicket when we played against England.
"We are playing in our country, but on surfaces which are varied. With the wind and the sun, it started to offer a bit more," he said.
