New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said that his team showed a lot of heart to somehow survive on Day 5, as he hailed debutant Rachin Ravindra, Tim Southee, and Kyle Jamieson after they forced a hard-fought draw in the first Test against India in Kanpur on Monday (November 19).
Chasing a target of 284 for victory on the final day, New Zealand slumped to 155/9, thanks to fantastic bowling efforts from R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja at the Green Park, Kanpur on Monday.
Well, the atmosphere was as tense as it was magical, with nearly nine overs to go, Ravindra and Ajaz Patel showed a lot of determination to deny India a win in the first Test in Kanpur, as the duo battled till the end and guided New Zealand to 165/9 when bad light stopped play on Monday.
While Ravindra faced 91 balls for his 18*, Patel survived 23 balls for 2* to ensure that New Zealand walked away with a draw in the first Test against Team India at Green Park, Kanpur on Monday.
Following the thrilling draw, Williamson has described the draw against India as a "fantastic result" for New Zealand as they were coming here with a "disjointed" preparation following the T20 World Cup 2021 final loss to Australia. Before the first Test, the Kiwis also played a T20I series in India.
Williamson said in the post-match press conference: “When a win was out of the question, the draw was the next best option to try and fight for. A number of really valuable contributions after a fairly disjointed preparation. And for us, it’s important that we look to make those adjustments quickly,” Williamson said in the post-match press conference.”
He continued, “The lights getting dark and nine down and these sort of things make it a fantastic Test match with all the emotion involved. Yesterday the game was in the balance and for us it was sort of some old school Test cricket, bat out a day and survive, which isn’t seen all that often in recent years, so it was pretty good fun and nice to come away with a draw in end.”
Praising both Indian-origin cricketers Ravindra and Patel, the Kiwi skipper said: “The result was one ball away. But in the end, Rachin (Ravindra) in his first Test match and Ajaz (Patel) as well showed a lot of determination to bat those few overs before bad light.”
Williamson has a special mention for Ravindra, saying: “That was an outstanding effort. It was tense, those last few overs. That’s why we have him in the side. To have this as his debut match must be special for him. Such a lovely Test match to start your career.”
He also admitted that India put New Zealand under a lot of pressure throughout the final day in Kanpur.
The skipper added, “We knew it was going to be a real scrap throughout the day. We were up against a formidable world-class Indian spin attack. Scoring was tough and there was a lot of sort of navigating. “There was variable bounce and balls that spin.
So ideally, it would have been great to try and get close to the desired result. But I think going through that second session quickly was off the cards and we saw a lot of contributions from guys where they really knuckle down and fought hard to try and get a draw in the end. So that was sort of the next best thing for us.”
Williamson agreed to the suggestion that Tim Southee’s (8/144) performance in the first Test could be the best by a New Zealand fast bowler in the sub-continental conditions.
He said, “Yes, I think I’d agree with that. He was incredible. There wasn’t a lot of pace to play with but he was able to change his angles and certainly, he was immaculate with his length and created opportunities for us. He was at his best.”
On being asked if he was surprised at the Green Park pitch holding up for five days, the Kiwi star said: “It did manage to hold on but only just as the game was obviously very close to being decided. It was a fantastic match all around. Naturally, both sides want to win and at the end of the day, it was a fantastic Test match. For us, it was trying to survive under a lot of pressure and against quality spin.”
He signed off by saying, “We have seen some other surfaces that have gone in a couple of days. All in all, it was a great Test. I suppose it’s only in recent years that we’ve seen these surfaces. I seem to remember coming here and my first tour and the surfaces did go five days, there were sort of large first-innings totals.”
(With PTI Inputs)
