The build-up to this second New Zealand-England Test focused on 2023's dramatic one-run win on the final evening of day five at this same venue.
Locals streaming in, school kids cutting class, converging on this gorgeous roundabout in Mount Victoria to bear witness to a finale for the ages. This time around, they were headed the other way. Locals back home, schoolkids with black caps wishing it was Monday already.
England's emphatic 323-run victory was secured on Sunday, but set in motion well before that. All that was left to do when they arrived in the morning with a 533 lead were the polite formalities, like raise the curtains and load the shotgun.
It was shortly before 5pm that New Zealand were put out of their misery at the Basin Reserve. The margin as humiliating as the fact it only took three days to establish.
Success over here for England was not guaranteed. Their last series win away in New Zealand came in 2008. Four failed attempts since spoke of the need for graft and respect for the opposition. The latter was guaranteed considering they had swept India in India a few weeks prior. In the end, Ben Stokes' side have moved to an unassailable 2-0 lead off the back of an eight-wicket win in Christchurch and a demolition job in Wellington. Two of New Zealand's historic venues sullied.
These last exchanges of a brief Test containing all sorts amounted to a glorified box-ticking endeavour. At points it felt like England were looters coming back to see what was left from their initial ransackings across Friday and Saturday.
Joe Root found a routine century, moving level with Rahul Dravid's tally of 36, who sits above him in fourth on the all-time Test run-scorer charts. Even the use of his patented reverse scoop off Will O'Rourke's bowling to take him to three figures from his 127th delivery felt like an indulgent side-quest. It was the first time he had used the shot to move to three figures.
"I thought it was amazing," beamed Stokes, who was batting with Root at the time, and raised his arms at the non-striker's end at the sheer audacity. "He [O'Rourke] had the man down there all morning, then he brought him up and he [Root] thought it is a good idea to scoop a 6ft 9in giant who was bowling rockets!"
An epic target of 583 allowed more grooving of Shoaib Bashir, who was unused in the first innings and finished unbeaten on nought from two deliveries with the bat on day one. Stokes informed Bashir he would be bowling all day, and initially cordoned off 17 overs from the Scoreboard End for the offspinner.
Having navigated the wind at the Hagley Oval during the first Test, Bashir had earmarked the Basin Reserve's top end as the place to apply those fresh learnings, particularly holding strong in his action. Alas, he was met with a far more challenging gust than anticipated.
The results were expensive, with 102 conceded from that long spell, including seven sixes, all gone with the wind. But Stokes was willing to spend frivolously to buy the 21-year-old Test dismissals No. 46 and No. 47 in the form of Glenn Phillips (bowled with decent turn and skid) and centurion Tom Blundell (fortuitously pocketed by a quick-thinking Ben Duckett off a wretched ball down leg).
"You don't get Test wickets if you're not bowling, Bash, do you?" Stokes said to Bashir after Blundell's demise. In any other situation, under any other captain, Bashir would have been pulled out of the attack earlier. But the luxury of England's advantage, and Stokes' desire to stuff him full of experience saw him uninterrupted, eventually conceding 110 from 19 overs, 70 of which came in boundaries.
Even Stokes was able to get a little something for himself. With New Zealand seven down, he tagged to take on the elements, swapping Bashir to the other end. He claimed the last three wickets, the first time he has taken as many in an innings since September 2022.
While there is no jeopardy for the end of this series as a live contest - World Test Championship points at Hamilton next week aside - it is important to reiterate England earned their canter. Their approach to tough conditions in the first innings when Tom Latham asked them to bat first, scoring 280 inside 54.4 overs, allowed them to sway the match, eventually gaining total control after dismissing New Zealand for 125.
Stokes wanted to bat first based on the 2023 meeting here, which took turn as the game extended beyond England's expectation and into New Zealand's wildest dreams. And while this might look like a nightmarish result on Latham's side, by this point they were calmly put to sleep, accepting and powerless.
Blundell's first century in 20 months brought a modicum of Kiwi joy. The appearance of the retiring Tim Southee, coming out to the middle as No. 10 for his penultimate Test appearance brought a standing ovation from the few who had remained.
A crowd that had been diluted by the rain that brought an early lunch had been spread thinner by the near-gale that warned of an impending storm. An apt allegory for a series many thought would be competitive but has already been decided in five days out of a possible 15.
On paper, this was supposed to be an even match-up. New Zealand perhaps even favourites off the back of their historical tour, and fuelled by the added motivation of reaching a second WTC final in three cycles. Two defeats - and an over-rate deduction - has put that out of reach.
While there is pride to play for next week, including giving Southee a fitting farewell, New Zealand have been roughed up. It has been a mismatch, and nothing typified that more than the final throes.