India did not manage to cross 200 in the first India vs New Zealand Test match at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. They were bowled out for 165 in the first innings and in the second, they were skittled out for 191, giving New Zealand only 9 runs to get and go 1-0 up in the two-match series. new Zealand chased it down with all their wickets intact. The inability of the Indian batsmen to adapt on pitches which offer swing and bounce was once again out in broad daylight. Explaining the same, former New Zealand all-rounder Craig McMillan on Tuesday said the Indian batsmen were “throwing their hands at the ball like they do in India”
“They didn’t make any adjustments in the way they played, they threw their hands at the ball like they do in India,” McMillan told Radio Sport.
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Mcmillan said playing on the up and away from the body works when the ball doesn’t bounce more than knee-high but you cannot get away with the same tactic overseas.
“When the ball doesn’t bounce above knee high you can get away with some of those shots - in New Zealand you don’t.” McMillan lauded the New Zealand’s veteran seam-bowling duo of Tim Southee and Trent Boult.
“When the ball’s swinging, and it did for most of that Wellington Test, Boult and Southee are geniuses,” he said.
Rating New Zealand’s performance as ‘terrific’, the right-hander said, he had never seen the world no.1 Test side dismantled over 4 days like in Wellington.
{{/usCountry}}Rating New Zealand’s performance as ‘terrific’, the right-hander said, he had never seen the world no.1 Test side dismantled over 4 days like in Wellington.
{{/usCountry}}“I haven’t seen India, the number one Test side in the world, dismantled like they were over those four days in Wellington,” he said.
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India were behind the game ever since Williamson sent them in on a green Basin Reserve track. None of the Indian batsmen looked comfortable in their stays in the middle in both innings. It was opener Mayank Agarwal, who looked good for his 58 in the second innings.
New Zealand’s drubbing of India was hailed as one of their best in Black Caps’ history by the media.
“Rare are the Tests in which the Black Caps beat the world’s number one Test side,” the New Zealand Herald wrote.
“To do so against a team who had won seven straight Tests, each by a massive margin, makes it even more impressive.” News website Stuff.co.nz pointed out that New Zealand entered the match after a 3-0 humiliation in their last series in Australia, making the win against India even more significant.
The result means New Zealand head into their next match in Christchurch starting Saturday with the chance of claiming a rare Test series sweep over India.
The last time it happened was in 2002 when they swept a two-Test series at home.
(With PTI inputs)