New Zealand head coach Gary Stead heaped lavish praise on his pace attack, saying he never has seen Kiwis having a more accurate performance with the ball than in their 10-wicket win over India in the opening Test of the two-match Test series in Wellington on Monday (February 24).
Pace spearheads Tim Southee and Trent Boult have made comeback to the Test side in a style, as they combined to pick 14 of the 20 Indian wickets at the Basin Reserve to win the game by 10 wickets for the hosts inside four days in Wellington.
Read Also: NZ v IND 2020: "Experienced heads" around help Jamieson ease into Test cricket
Southee had match figures of 9-110 and Boult with 5/96, while debutant Kyle Jamieson made a dream debut with 4-39 in India's below-par first innings total, as the Black Caps’ pace attack could not allow Virat Kohli and his team cross the 200-run mark in both innings at Basin Reserve.
Well, following the massive victory over Indians, Stead has stressed on the need to be more competitive in the second Test to be played from February 29, saying if the New Zealand bowlers manage to maintain intensity in Christchurch, they will be in for a cracking Test.
Stead told reporters on Tuesday, “I can't speak highly enough of the bowling unit and the way they went about taking 20 wickets on a pitch that had a little bit in it the whole time. From my perspective, I think it was our most accurate performance with the ball.”
The coach also admitted that he was surprised at how easily New Zealand pacers restricted India's line-up for 165 and 191 at a green Basin Reserve wicket.
He further added, “Yes, that was a surprise. But I think that's a testament to the amount of pressure we put on them for a long period of time. We picked up wickets at times you might consider were critical in the match ... and I guess that was the catalyst for the win. We got on a roll and I think when teams do that they can be hard to beat.”
Gary also expects that India will bounce back in the final Test and the hosts need to put up, even more, a better show than Wellington Test in Christchurch.
Stead signed off by saying, “Whoever we go with, we know we will have to put in a performance that we did in this game because we know India will get better. If we can be as accurate or as clinical as we were in this first game then we will be in for a cracking Test.”
(With Reuters Inputs)
