Bangalore, Sep 1 (IANS) After allowing India to get away from a tight corner, New Zealand are hoping that with the second new ball due on the third morning they could restrict the home team in the ongoing second cricket Test here.
Speaking after the second day’s play Saturday, Kiwi seamer Tim Southee, who picked up three of the five Indian wickets, said his team lost the early advantage when they had India struggling at 80 for four as the ball became softer and the wicket eased off, but hoped they can turn things around with the second new ball.
“Obviously, with the new ball, it’s nice to bowl and swing it, and we were lucky to pick up a few wickets there. India came back well after lunch as the ball got a bit older.
“The wicket is a pretty good wicket. So I guess now it’s an important time for us with the second new ball to see if we can pick up the rest of the wickets,” said the 23-year old Southee, who was the pick of the Kiwi bowlers.
Southee rued that some of the edges off the Indian bats did not carry while the bowlers did not apply sufficient pressure.
“We’re still creating chances and getting edges. I guess we didn’t build enough pressure through dot balls. But there were still chances with the edges. The ball got a bit old and it wasn’t carrying. I thought we bowled well. It just gets easier as the ball gets older and unfortunately we couldn’t get it to reverse.
“I don’t think it was a very abrasive surface, so the ball hasn’t scuffed up as much as we would have liked. That was why we couldn’t get it to reverse,” he said.
Southee admitted that his team would have been happier than a first innings score of 365 as they were hoping to get around 400 to put India under pressure, but lost quick wickets in the first hour.
“Yes, 400 would have been nice, but the contribution from the tail was a good effort. The way Kruger (van Wyk who scored 71) batted as well. At the start of the day, we would have wanted to take a bit more, but its runs on the board,” Southee said.
He declined to speculate on the flow of the game over the next three days as much would depend on how the Kiwis bowl on the third morning.
“Still early stages, but the wicket is still in good condition. It depends on how well we get these last few wickets and how well we bowl with the new ball. The pitch hasn’t done anything funny, it’s only Day 2. On Day 4 or 5, it might start to do something,” he opined
