Ailment fails to bug ‘brave’ Southee

Tim Southee battled through a gastro bug to help the Black Caps pull off a remarkable win over India on Saturday night, an effort team-mate Hamish Bennett labelled as ‘‘brave’’.

The veteran seamer bowled all of his 10 overs by the halfway stage of India’s innings at Eden Park, where they were chasing 274 to send the three-match ODI series to a decider at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Tuesday.

Thanks in part to his haul of 2-41, which included the wicket of Virat Kohli for the ninth time in international cricket, the Black Caps pulled off a 22-run win, wrapping up the series with a game to spare. Bennett played his part too, taking the wickets of Mayank Agarwal early and Shreyas Iyer in the middle of the innings, just as he was threatening to play a match-winning role for the visitors.

He said yesterday that he had got a sense of Southee’s less-thanideal state when they crossed paths in the field.

‘‘I noticed when I went to midon and spoke to Tim – he’s normally quite a jovial character and up for a laugh and I said something quite funny to him and he sort of grunted at me, so I thought, well, he’s not in the best of moods here.

‘‘For me it was probably that – I was down at fine leg so I didn’t really get to see him up close and see how ill he actually was, then after I said that quick-witted joke to him and he said nothing to me, I knew he wasn’t good.’’

Southee and Santner had both reported ill early in the afternoon on an ailing Tim Southee, left

on Saturday, with the spinner playing no part in the match.

Mark Chapman came into the XI for Santner, but the only other player on hand was Scott Kuggeleijn,

who had been out of action for the past few days himself with flu-like symptoms, so the decision was made that Southee would power through.

He didn’t hang around long with the bat, making 3 off 10 balls before he was caught slogging, then bowled two spells with the ball, either side of a break where he headed off the field and had to vomit. Bennett was full of praise for Southee, ‘‘a tough character’’ who others try to emulate.

‘‘For him to do that, it just shows how much wearing the silver fern on his chest means to him. It was a pretty brave effort.’’

Santner and Southee were both understood to be in better condition yesterday, as the team left Auckland for the Mount.

‘‘I said something quite funny to him and he sort of grunted at me, so I thought, ‘well, he’s not in the best of moods here’.’’ Hamish Bennett