Kiwis wary of unorthodox Bumrah, says Santner

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Jasprit Bumrah has been an asset to Virat Kohli, especially in the death overs. His yorkers may not crush toes like Waqar Younis’ did, but are sharp enough to worry batsmen.

New Zealand all-rounder Mitchell Santner acknowledged that on Monday.

“Bumrah and Bhuvi have bowled brilliantly in the series. Bumrah is very good at the death, he can hit the (block) hole and has very good change-ups. We prepare as we can in the nets, but in the middle if he doesn’t miss it, it can be quite difficult,” Santner said.

Kohli’s team has crushed every opposition in limitedovers cricket in the last yearand-a-half. But New Zealand have competed.

They were close to winning the ODI series (lost the decider by 6 runs) and have a real chance of clinching the T20 series on Tuesday, which Santner admitted doesn’t happen often.

“India have played very good cricket for a long time now. They are very tough to beat in home conditions. We have taken it to the decider in the last two series. Both teams will feel the pressure and would want to win. It is about performing on the day. They played well in Kanpur under pressure too. We have to play the best we can and perform our roles,” added the south paw.

“Last year we did not put up a performance we wanted to. In the last ODI in Kanpur, we were close, but every time we get to a decider it is a positive. We’re playing pretty good cricket at the moment. If we can put out a similar performance (like Rajkot), we can take the series.

“We’ve a chance to win a series in India, which is tough, so everyone is pretty excited.”india are in some bother over the fifth bowler, but he said the Kiwis are not for targetting any bowler.

“Ashish Nehra has been a very good bowler for a long time for India. (Mohammed) Siraj, on debut, bowled really well but was unlucky at times.

“You might try and target one bowler but anyone can bowl well on the day, so I don’t think we will target anyone. We still have to respect the bowler. We’re going with a clear head and will try and hit the bad balls, but also do something similar to the last game.”

Both Bumrah and Bhuvi have bowled brilliantly. Bumrah is very good at the death, he can hit the (block) hole and has very good changeups. MITCHELL SANTNER, NZ spinner