India defeated New Zealand by eight wickets in the second One Day International at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium in Raipur on January 21 and also taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Losing Captain, Tom Latham said:
Batting up-top wasn’t our best performance. India put the ball in the right areas and it was one of those days where everything we tried didn’t work. On the other hand, everything India did worked. There was some tennis-ball bounce, some came through, some kept low and there was some movement. We just couldn’t build partnerships at the top. Guys lower down tried to fight but it wasn’t easy. We didn’t adapt well today, considering the surface.
Winning Captain, Rohit Sharma said:
The last five games, bowlers have really stepped up. Whatever we have asked of them, they have stepped up and delivered. You don’t usually see this type of seam movement in India, you generally see it outside India. These guys have some serious skills, they work really hard and it’s great to see them being rewarded. We trained yesterday and the ball was nipping around under lights. We knew that if they had 250 or so, it might have been challenging for us but that was the point of opting to chase. We batted first last game, so the idea was to challenge ourselves. Not sure what I’ll do at Indore (in the final game). The confidence is high within the group and that’s great to see. They (Shami and Siraj) were raring to keep bowling long spells but I reminded them that there is a Test series coming up as well (Australia at home), so we need to take care of themselves as well. I’m trying to change my game a bit now, have been trying to take the bowlers on and I think that’s important. I know the big scores haven’t come, but I’m not too worried about it.
Player of the Match, Mohammed Shami said:
Whenever I start, I just focus on maintaining the right lines and lengths. But it does happen sometimes that you bowl well and yet don’t get wickets. On other days you may not be in rhythm, and will still get wickets. That happens. I feel that the more you work with the ball in practice, the more success will come. I never thought I’d get to have a proper seam position and it gives me joy to see the seam upright as it goes in the air. As a new-ball bowler, it’s important to assess the conditions and pass the message quickly to the other bowlers as well.
