Black Caps to keep attacking
New Zealand’s cricketers have vowed to continue attacking India with bat and ball despite a lopsided series opener as they summon their familiar bounce back qualities.
The Black Caps hit the road from Napier to Tauranga yesterday with plenty of time to mull over their batting horrors and eight-wicket defeat to India in a fizzer of a first one-day international. There’s enough experience in the side – not ranked third in the world by accident – to preach the mantra of ‘park it and and move on’, with a quick turnaround for tomorrow’s game two at Bay Oval.
Since the last Cricket World Cup, New Zealand have lost six bilateral ODI series openers and won game two in five of those, against England (2015), Zimbabwe (2015), India (2016) and South Africa (2015 and 2017). Australia away in 2016 was the exception, losing games one and two on the way to a 3-0 sweep.
‘‘It’s not the end of the world by any means. The batters will agree it wasn’t their best day and that can happen in cricket,’’ fast bowler Lockie Ferguson said.
‘‘When you’re coming so aggressively at a team like India – and we want to continue to play that aggressive brand – some days you’re going to have like that. By no means are we going to dwell on it or lose any sleep.
‘‘We’ll park it and be better for it in game two. The boys are fizzing to have another chance.’’
Indeed if similar batting issues arise at Bay Oval tomorrow and Monday there will be cause for concern, but for now the hosts’ confidence remained intact, Ferguson said.
‘‘For sure. There’s always the belief with the Black Caps. We enjoy being underdogs in a way but we always believe we can put on a performance and get the wins and create pressure with bat and ball.’’
Captain Kane Williamson admitted they misread the McLean Park pitch after winning the toss and expecting a runfest in the first ODI there in nearly four years. Instead it was, as Ross Taylor described it, two-paced, and some deliveries held up which brought India’s wrist spinners into the game.
Still, most dismissals were pilot error from the New Zealanders under pressure from an impressive India attack led by man of the match Mohammed Shami.
All out for 157 in 38 overs made very average reading, after openers Martin Guptill and Colin Munro were knocked over by Shami, Taylor and Tom Latham played false shots to Yuzvendra Chahal’s legspin, and Williamson holed out when well set on 64.
You’d expect the batting to improve on a dream surface which saw them rack up 371-7 and 319-7 against Sri Lanka.
Then the next question: how to contain India’s batting lineup who cantered home, anchored by opener Shikhar Dhawan’s 75 not out and skipper Virat Kohli’s measured 45.
Cricketer of the moment, Kohli, will only be in New Zealand for the Bay Oval double before returning home to rest, missing the final two ODIs in Hamilton and Wellington and the three Twenty20 internationals, India’s BCCI confirmed.
‘‘Obviously disappointing not to play him as much as we can. It’s always great to play the best in the world,’’ said Ferguson, who dismissed short one.
Ferguson looked sharp and topped 150kmh, and is increasingly a must-pick in the Black Caps’ top XI with his extra pace, aggression and wickettaking ability in the middle stages.
He’d only bowled once before to Kohli, two deliveries in an Indian Premier League game, and looked forward to resuming their duel.
‘‘It’s definitely a challenge and one I was really keen to get amongst. I had some plans to him and tried to change up the angles but they didn’t quite come to fruition early on. He’s a good player, he played well and chasing a score like that he could take his time. I know next game we’ll come out better with a few more runs and we’ll put him under some more pressure.’’
FIVE LESSONS Kohli hooking at
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