IND vs NZ | We didn’t start with the ball but clawed back in the middle and took it deep till the end, says Tim Southee

11/18/2021

New Zealand stand-in skipper Tim Southee has said that the bowlers didn’t bowl well in the powerplay but came back in the middle and took the game till the end. Kiwis conceded 50 runs in first five overs but clawed their way back by picking five wickets and didn’t let India chase the target easily.

After losing the toss, New Zealand were asked to bat first in Jaipur on Wednesday and they posted 164/6, thanks to Mark Chapman (63) and Martin Guptill (70). None of the batsmen apart from the duo could cross the 20-run mark. At one stage, they were cruising at 110/1 looking to post a total in excess of 180. The Indian bowlers consisting Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj and Deepak Chahar restricted them in the last seven overs. Kumar and Ashwin took two wickets while Siraj and Chahar took one apiece.

In reply, the Men In Blue scored 50 runs in five overs before KL Rahul was caught by Chapman in the first ball of the sixth over bowled by Mitchell Santner. They were looking at one stage with 109/1 but lost the wicket of skipper Rohit Sharma (48) to Trent Boult. Suryakumar Yadav scored 62 runs before being dismissed by Boult.

Batsmen such as Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and debutant Venkatesh Iyer found it difficult to score against the Blackcaps bowlers but eventually chased down the target with two balls to spare and having lost the wickets of Shreyas and Venkatesh.

Southee in the post-match show said that bowlers pulling it back in the middle overs and taking the game deep into the last over is a positive sign.

"You want to come out on the right side of close ones, Mark Chapman the way he played was very pleasing, but a game of fine margins. The way we started with the ball wasn't what we wanted, did well to claw it back in the middle, took it deep and to the last over was a positive. We set higher expectations so a bit off with the field, been v v good at it in the last few matches. Tough that we'd used our resources, but Daryl does his scouting and always wants to bowl. We probably didn't leave him enough runs," said the stand-in skipper.

Both the teams will play each other next on November 19 in Ranchi.