It was a case of so close yet so far for New Zealand on Sunday (October 29) as their hopes of winning their first-ever bilateral series in India ended in a heartbreaking manner. Chasing a mammoth 338, New Zealand looked in contention throughout the game before a moment of madness in the 48th over when they needed 26 off the last 14 balls quashed their hopes.
A well-set Tom Latham was run-out after Colin de Grandhomme missed a Jasprit Bumrah yorker which went to MS Dhoni behind the stumps. Latham tried to steal a single but de Grandhomme did not oblige, and by the time he could return safely to the crease, Dhoni had thrown the ball to Bumrah who did the rest. New Zealand could not recover from that loss and were eventually restricted to 331 for 7.
Speaking after the loss, Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson admitted that it was ‘frustrating, disappointing, to lose after coming so close. At the same time, Williamson was quick to point to the positives in the series, singling out the batting efforts.
“Naturally you look back at a game, to lose by six runs, having come so close in a big run chase, is frustrating, disappointing,” Williamson said. “It is hard to swallow, another decider here in India, but if you sit back and look at the work that was put in in that batting innings to get so close, it is a really promising thing for this batting unit. I think we put in some good performances, but you have got to be at your best when you play this Indian team, especially at home.”
“When you do come so close to victory, you can look at hundreds of different little things and go what if, but at the end of the day you can’t really do that. You need to accept it. Whenever you lose, whether it is by one run or you win by 100 runs, you still want to learn from the performance and be better next time. I think that’s where our focus will be,” he added.
Williamson further shed some more lights on the positives that the team gained during the challenging series. He also had a special mention for Tom Latham who has turned to be a revelation after being demoted to the middle-order. The left-handed batsman, who had opened the innings when New Zealand visited India last year, was being asked to bat at number 5 and he passed the test with flying colours, scoring a century and a fifty in the three-match series.
“There were some lessons throughout the series; there always are when you play the best in the world. To perform the way we did in the first game was our best performance of the tour so far. This one could have been the best performance but it wasn’t to be on the day. A lot of good signs. I thought the bowlers stuck at it really well. Good surfaces. They were able to restrict a lot of the time and put a little bit of pressure despite the very good batting unit that India have. Our middle order with the bat was something of a highlight throughout this series. Particularly Tom Latham, from opening the batting to coming into the middle order, taking that role, adopting it like he has and batting so beautifully, it was a great sign for us,” he said.
“In general, it is a challenge adapting here. Conditions are fairly different, but I thought we did it fairly well. To come into the first game and adapt and play like we did was really promising. In the second game, it was a point that we made, reflecting on that loss, that we could have adapted and communicated a little bit better to the change of surface. I suppose that brings us to this game. And I thought we did it pretty well. On a good surface, on a new ground again, which you do have to, I suppose, think on your feet when you turn up and make those decisions and learn as quickly as you can,” he added.
“Naturally being the touring side, you don’t have as much experience on some of these surfaces. There are a lot of good signs. Such a fine line this game of cricket. We saw today, six runs. You look throughout the innings; there is this ball, that ball. At the end of the day, you have to let it go and accept that throughout the series India were the better team.”
Williamson also rued the huge score his team conceded but was pretty happy with his bowlers’ efforts to pull things back towards the end and restrict India to 337 after they were looking primed to score over 350.
“If you bowl first, you don’t want the opposition to get 337, but it was a very good surface and a very fast outfield. After the start India got, the way we pulled it back in the last 10 overs was a good effort,” said Williamson.
“The way the ball swung early on, you are never far away from perhaps taking some early wickets, but they are a very good batting unit and they played very well today. To restrict them was a good effort, the dew later in the evening was helpful, but like I said you have got to move on, learn from that. There were a lot of good signs. Chasing a total like that you do need to play well. I thought guys executed their roles really well. It did come down to perhaps one or two deliveries,” he added.
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