New Zealand’s most experienced bowler Tim Southee today cautioned India against short picth bowling in the third ODI at Eden Park, Auckland which has the reputation of one of the qucikest pitch in New Zealand.
Southee at the pre-match press conference said: “The pitch does offer a bit of pace and bounce, but generally it is a pretty good batting surface. With the small boundaries, it is a bit daunting for the bowlers but in the last couple of games it has managed to swing around a little bit. It does generally swing in here. So, hopefully we can make the most of that.”
“If there is a little bit of pace in the wicket, short bowling will be an option. The square boundaries are a bit bigger and it will come into play as strategy. We have plans in place for each of their batsmen. The plans had worked well in the first two games,” he continued.
India have already lost the first two ODIs at Napier and Hamilton by 24 runs and 15 runs (D/L method) respectively to go down 0-2 in the five-match series. The cause of concern for Indian batsman will be first ODI in Napier where four out of top 6 batsmen were dismissed by short picth bowling.
“It has been a good start to the series so far. We have played two pretty good games. It is important we do not get too far ahead of ourselves and take each game as it comes. We know they are a good side and have been number one in the world for a while. They will be disappointed with the first two games. They are too good a side to roll over.
“We know we have to be at our best to beat this side and hopefully we can do that tomorrow,” Southee said.
In two matches so far, MS Dhoni has opted to bowl first but ended up falling short of target on both occasions. Eden Park, too, is a small ground with different boundary angles. So Southee says Indian might stick with their strategy.
“No, I don’t think India are at a disadvantage by opting to chase. Grounds in New Zealand are small and chasing is the preferred option for a lot of sides, knowing you can chase down any score with the size of these small grounds,” Southee analysed.
Looking at last one year New Zealand have performed very well to beat England and South Africa, while earning creditable draws against Sri Lanka and West Indies. Despite the white-wash against Bangladesh, this young team is on the up and it will be a huge confidence booster if they manage to beat India as well.
“We have always been competitive in limited-overs cricket. We have shown we can beat anyone on our day. It is the consistency we are starting to show. We are not where we want to be. We are starting to get there. Good sides win series consistently and that is where we want to get. We are playing an aggressive, attacking style of cricket. That is the approach Brendon McCullum (captain) and Mike Hesson (coach) have brought to this side,” revealed Southee.
“We have worked very well together and it is showing that we can go out there and play our natural game freely. We are a naturally exciting batting line-up and have got ball strikers all the way down. If we go out there and put the runs on the board as we have, it will allow the bowlers to be aggressive all the way through the innings,” he said.