NZ vs IND, 1st ODI | Who said what ft. Kane Williamson, Shikhar Dhawan
New Zealand registered a seven-wicket victory over India taking a 1-0 lead on Friday courtesy of Tom Latham’s career best knock of unbeaten 145 runs. Kane Williamson praised Latham for his superb knock while Shikhar Dhawan admitted that the areas where bowlers bowled should have been better.
The Indian side led by Shikhar Dhawan suffered a defeat in the opening game of the ODI series against New Zealand on Friday. Batting first, they posted a total of 306/7 with Lockie Fergsuon and Tim Southee picking three wickets each. Tom Latham played a career best knock of unbeaten 145 runs and he stitched a brilliant partnership with Kane Williamson to make mockery of the chase completing the target with 17 more balls to go.
Kane Williamson praised Latham for his knock and also revealed that the spin played a big role in the fixture.
At the halfway stage I thought it was a competitive total. The wicket was starting to turn a bit. And the cross-seamers got a bit out of it. But as we know on this ground if you build partnerships you can chase anything. Incredible knock by Latham. Absolutely on fire. It was a very good wicket. Spin played a big role as we saw. Nice to get a win. When we started seeing it turn like it did, you think of a number of things. But I thought the seamers did a very good job.
Shikhar Dhawan highlighted the fact that the bowlers preferred short pitched deliveries and the lengths should have been improved.
Today we bowled short of length and Latham attacked us there. That's where he took the game away from us, especially in the 40th over. That's where the momentum shifted.We need to implement our plans more wisely and make sure we don't make the batsmen play on their strength.
Tom Latham expressed his joy after the match-defining knock but also admitted that tackling Washinton Sundar’s spin was a tough task.
Built a partnership with Kane and had a bit of fun, just reacted to things and it paid off. It's about being in strong positions and react to what they were bowling. Was able to find the gaps. The preparation has been ideal, it's been nice and I was able to hit the ball right today. Sundar was getting some turn, found it a bit hard to play against him.
Shreyas Iyer suggested that the team needs to be mentaly strong to adjust in different playing conditions and succeed in them.
It's not easy to directly come from India and play here. Wickets keep on changing in every place and this is a challenge which you need to face. You have to be mentally strong, just have to adapt to the situations.