New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson says their victory in the second Test well inside three days is not a fair reflection of how competitive the match was and If India had scored 50 more runs, the chase would have been much more challenging.
New Zealand won the first Test in Wellington by 10 wickets in little over three days while they completed the second Test win by seven wickets even quicker.
“It’s an outstanding performance. I sort of said it recently but I don’t think the result reflected how competitive the match was. Perhaps another 50 more runs from the India’s perspective would have made it quite a balanced-looking match,” Williamson said at the post-match press conference.
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Unlike the flat sub-continental tracks, the tracks for two Tests had an ideal balance between bat and ball where it was hard to score runs.
“Both games were a really good balance in terms of the surface between bat and ball and runs were quite tough to come by. You had to have a little bit of fortune go your way and then try and put a bit of pressure on the bowlers first. A great performance over the last two games from the guys.” Williamson had no qualms in admitting that tracks were tilted in favour of bowlers.
{{/usCountry}}“Both games were a really good balance in terms of the surface between bat and ball and runs were quite tough to come by. You had to have a little bit of fortune go your way and then try and put a bit of pressure on the bowlers first. A great performance over the last two games from the guys.” Williamson had no qualms in admitting that tracks were tilted in favour of bowlers.
{{/usCountry}}“I guess you look at the surfaces and they both were perhaps seam-bowler friendly. But as a batting unit as well, the contributions that were made to get us to parity in the first innings of this game and in Wellington to get competitive totals on the board on these surfaces were really pleasing to see.” The genial Black Caps skipper agreed that pace on both Wellington and Christchurch tracks was “more aligned to Australian conditions” than their own.
Usually, the tracks at the Basin Reserve and the Hagley Oval, flattens with passage of time, something that didn’t happen during the course of these two Test matches.
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“Maybe not so much the sideways movement which we saw throughout. But that made a sporting balance between bat and ball. That was something that was a little bit new for us as well,” he said.
“In the last two games, the reward was a little bit quicker because the surfaces were slightly different to what we have had in the past.
“But at the same time, it’s great when you see Test cricket where there is that balance, whether it is early, in the back-end of the game or perhaps the added pace meant that with the sideways movement, perhaps it always had a ball with your name on it,” he said.