After being in the driver’s seat for the first two days, New Zealand’s chances of saving the Test match is looking very bleak. Their bowlers performed brilliantly in the first innings and dismissed the Indian team for 318. Tom Latham and Kane Williamson took them to a stronger position when they finished the second day on 152 for 1. But a dramatic collapse on the third day saw them losing their last 9 wickets for only 110 runs. And now the visitors are leading them by 215 runs with nine wickets in hand. However, their wicketkeeper BJ Watling is still hopeful of his team’s chances. Speaking to the media after the day’s play, he spoke on various topics.
Excerpts:
On whether New Zealand can save the match:
I know we have a great bunch of fighters in this team and we love playing the game. We know we are under a bit of pressure now and we have just got to find a way to try put the pressure back on them. That is all we can do at the moment. I know our attitude is right and we’ll come out and fight tomorrow. It was a tough day. We have to look forward to tomorrow and make sure we make the adjustments that are required. We need to improve, but I know the boys are determined. We are trying to learn these conditions and figure out ways to score runs and take wickets. We would definitely like to do things better tomorrow and know the boys are determined to do that.
On playing against Indian spinners and whether the wicket changed from tomorrow:
For me it’s about lining it up, making sure my pads are out of the way and trying to defend it like that. You can see the seam but sometimes it’s the shiny side and sometimes it’s the seam. They are very consistent, they put it in good areas and get a bit of natural variation every now and then. You just have to make sure your lines are good. There was definitely a bit more turn, but they have two quality spin bowlers and we lost wickets in clumps. We talked about that, we know it’s tough to start in these conditions and we’ve definitely got to do that better in our second innings.
As you’d expect with a day three wicket there is a lot more rough, a lot more footmarks out there and it’s getting a bit slower in the middle of the track. But that is what you expect when you start the game. We know it is going to get tougher and tougher into day four and day five. No surprises there.
On R Ashwin’s delivery to dismiss Kane Williamson:
Yeah, you could probably say that (best ball of the day). It was a very good ball that spun very wide, just a tough ball to play and he obviously asked questions like that throughout the day. We have to find a way to deal with those good balls.
On their plans on the fourth day:
We have got to look at that first session tomorrow, try and restrict them and take as many poles as we can tomorrow morning. That’s our main focus at the moment, and then trying to deal with our second innings with the bat.