IND vs NZ | Drying up boundaries helped in dismissing Virat Kohli, reveals Trent Boult

New Zealand left-arm seamer Trent Boult has said that the Blackcaps had laid out a plan for Virat Kohli of drying up the boundaries and thus targeted him with bouncers which, eventually brought the Indian captain's downfall.

Virat Kohli’s nightmare with the bat continued as he made 19 off 43 balls before trying to hook a Boult bouncer only to be caught by wicket-keeper BJ Watling, providing New Zealand with an opportunity to close the Test match on the fourth day. For the second time in the ongoing Wellington Test against the BlackCaps, the Indian skipper was removed cheaply. India ended day three at 144 for four, still trailing the hosts by 39 runs.

"Almost every time we miss, he hits and he hits it well and gets boundaries. From our point of view, we are just trying to dry the boundaries for him. I think using the wicket and using the short ball was a good plan and being able to control his run rate. It's nice to draw the air out of him," said Boult at the end of the day's play, reported India today.

At the start of Day 3, India had their opportunities to clip New Zealand's wings. They opened the day with two wickets in the first three overs to have New Zealand 225 for seven, just 60 runs ahead. But lusty hitting from Jamieson and then Boult paved the way for the final three wickets to add a further 123 runs. Boult added that it was too early to determine what kind of total they would be comfortable chasing with India still having some resistance in their lineup.

"I hope I don't have to bat again. If I do my job we won't be chasing too much. It's a very good wicket (and) we know that we have to be on the ball. We can't be walking around feeling we're well ahead of the game because there is a lot of cricket to be played,” the left-armer added.