Published: Feb 15, 2014, 01:46 AM (IST)
Edited: Feb 15, 2014, 01:47 AM (IST)
New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson was full of praise for the Indian bowlers who did a brilliant job, led by Ishant Sharma to bundle the hosts cheaply.
Willamson said “They bowled very well. They sort of picked up from where they left off in Auckland [in first Test]. Credit goes to their bowling attack,” Williamson said at the press conference after the first day’s play.
He said the Basin Reserve pitch was a tough one to bat on but gave the credit to the Indian bowlers for exploiting the conditions well.
“Looking at the pitch, we expected it to be tough. We played on a green one before against the West Indies [in December], but they did not bowl as well as this Indian side.
They bowled very short. It is hard to compare but yes, it was tough out there and the nature of the surface, the quality of bowling was much tougher.
“It was a good challenge for our batting unit and we will have to try and apply that same pressure with the ball,” said Williamson.
Talking about the toss which his captain Brendon McCullum lost all through the tour by the Indians, he said, “That would have been a nice toss to win. But it’s been uncanny, not one toss the whole series is just ridiculous.”
New Zealand did make some inroads thereafter dismissing Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara cheaply, but Shikhar Dhawan’s 71 unbeaten runs took the visitors to 100 for two at stumps.
