India no test for NZ
Kane Williamson has lauded the response from New Zealand’s quicks in their emphatic test series triumph over India.
New Zealand swept aside the world’s No 1-ranked test side 2-0 after winning by seven wickets in Christchurch inside three days yesterday.
It was New Zealand’s sixth straight test series win on home soil and extended their unbeaten run in tests in New Zealand to 13, last losing against South Africa in Wellington in March, 2017.
After a 3-0 thumping by Australia in the test series across the ditch in December-January, it was some response by skipper Williamson’s men.
New Zealand battled with the ball against Australia in their conditions, conceding 400 or more runs in the first innings of every match.
Back on favourable seamfriendly pitches, New Zealand were much more at home with senior new ball duo Trent Boult and Tim Southee, and test newbie Kyle Jamieson thriving.
The trio combined for 34 wickets in the series with man of the series Southee capturing 14 wickets at 13.14. Boult was equally impressive in his return from a broken bone in his right hand sustained against Australia, taking 11 wickets at 19.36.
Jamieson wasn’t fazed by the step up to test cricket, shining with nine wickets at 16 across the two matches, while also chipping in with valuable runs in both Wellington and Christchurch.
Dismissing India’s powerful batting lineup for less than 200 in three of four innings was critical to New Zealand’s success.
The New Zealand seamers also took away the effectiveness of Indian captain Virat Kohli, who totalled a dire 38 runs in four innings at 9.5.
‘‘It’s a brilliant effort,’’ Williamson said post-match.
‘‘It was nice from our team’s perspective to make that adjustment, that step up from a tough series in Australia and put out a couple of strong performances.’’
Black Caps coach Gary Stead felt his side had regained respectability after copping a public battering following the thrashing in Australia.
New Zealand debated whether to retain Jamieson after a dream debut in Wellington at Hagley Oval and he repaid their faith, taking his first test five-for in the first innings.
‘‘To play a team like India and to be able to beat them 2-0 in our own backyard was a really important thing for us to bounce back from what happened in Australia,’’ Stead said.
Back-to-back victories over India banked New Zealand 120 points in the ICC test championship and lifted them from fifth to third on 180 points.
With a relatively kind test schedule over the next 12 months, including two tests away to Bangladesh next up in August, then five home tests next summer against the West Indies (three) and Pakistan (two) it puts New Zealand in an excellent position.
Having five seamers in Christchurch wasn’t easy for captain Williamson, but he rotated his bowlers well with Boult (6-117) for the match and Southee (5-74) leading the way.
‘‘The best part in this game as well, playing the extra seamer is sometimes a challenge, because guys’ workloads can change and they’re used to bowling one spell and then they’re swinging around from the other end,’’ Williamson said. ‘‘Whereas they all bought into a slightly different philosophy by playing that extra seamer and they all complemented each other beautifully throughout this match, so we could keep trying to build that pressure by having aggressive options at either end.’’
The pitches aided New Zealand’s bowlers against India, but Williamson stressed the way they hunted as a pack and generated pressure from both ends was crucial. They were also regularly able to put the ball in the right areas and not allow India’s potent top order easy runs.
‘‘In Australia that was very, very tough to do from our seamers.
‘‘Throughout this series, we did have that movement and we had the discipline from our bowlers to bowl very much a fuller length and watch the ball move in both directions – which is quite a challenging thing to negotiate from a batting perspective.’’
‘‘To beat them 2-0 in our own backyard was a really important thing for us to bounce back from what happened in Australia.’’ Blacks Caps coach Gary Stead