Bowlers won it for us, says Dhawan

Opener Shikhar Dhawan credited bowlers’ effort for India’s six-wicket win over New Zealand in the second ODI on Wednesday. Dhawan said the game was won at the end of the first innings itself with the Kiwis putting up a paltry 230-run total.

Addressing the media at the end of the match, Dhawan, who notched up a well-paced half-cen- tury to get India off to a good start, said: “230 is not too much in these times. The bowlers bowled really well and the fielders backed them up well. The bowlers had done half the job actually for us. The pressure of chasing 230 is naturally always less compared to chasing 300.”

While Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah rattled the top order, the spinners ensured that the runs were dried up in the middle overs. The pressure kept piling up and the Kiwis never managed to bounce back in the game. Dhawan, however, admitted that it did surprise him to find skipper Kane Williamson opting to bat first after winning the toss.

“I guess we played their pacers better than they (played our pacers),” he said. “I was a bit surprised with their decision to bat first because there is dew in the evening usually during this time. But it wasn’t a bad track to bat on even in the first innings, it was a good wicket. When we were batting we thought it slowed down a bit, the ball wasn’t coming as nicely.” Mitchell Santner reiterated Dhawan’s thoughts. “I think credit has to go to India the way they bowled in the start and put us under pressure. Losing the first three (wickets) in the first 10 overs is not ideal if you’re batting first. We knew that 230 was a little under par and then the way they came out and batted guess took the game away from us.”