The Black Caps may be heading into tomorrow’s second clash against India with a “disappointing” loss but Kiwi bowler Lockie Ferguson is confident they can come back from it.
New Zealand opened the five-match Netmeds Series Trophy series poorly, going down to the visitors in the day-night match in Napier on Wednesday.
The hosts were rolled for just 157 at McLean Park, batting for just 38 overs as opening seamer Mohammed Shami put them under pressure in India’s eight-wicket victory.
Ferguson admitted Wednesday night was not New Zealand’s best performance, with putting runs on the board a major challenge of the match, but says they will look forward rather than dwell on what had already happened.
“We’ll be the first one to say it didn’t quite go our way but that happens in cricket sometimes, you know, and especially when you play a team like India,” Ferguson said.
“We’ll definitely park it, go game two and we’ll be better for it and I’m sure we’ll come out firing”
“The boys have looked at what went wrong and we’ll definitely park it, and look to continue our good form into Tauranga, where we’ve been very strong.”
Games two and three will be played at Mount Maunganui’s Bay Oval tomorrow and Monday and are expected to be last for Indian captain Virat Kohli, who scored 45 in Wednesday night’s win, set to be rested from the final two games of the ODI series in Hamilton and Wellington, as well as the three-match Twenty20 series. Rohit Sharma will step in as captain.
Ferguson said he would have enjoyed playing the world’s best batsman as much as possible during the series but understands the reasoning, when someone plays three formats of the sport.
Looking ahead to the Mount clash, Ferguson said they had “enough positives to take it to them in game two”, with a focus on retaining their aggressive mindset in their bowling attack and not forgetting their own strengths.
“We’ve still got to take wickets early on and look to be aggressive throughout and create pressure, you know I think we took a lot of positives out of that … there were still areas that we need to make improvements and I think going into next game we’ll be better for it.
“We enjoy being the underdogs in a way but we always have the belief that we can put on a performance and get the wins and create pressure from the bat and the ball.”
As the Black Caps try to bounce back from defeat Kane Williamson has called for a smarter batting approach and praised the Indian bowling attack for a performance that gave the Kiwi batsmen plenty of lessons to take away.
“I think they did perhaps expose us in some areas – I think the length they bowled was outstanding, it did make scoring hard to achieve.
Smart was a word that Williamson had on the mind post-match, arguing that there were no technical issues that needed to be solved, and better batsmanship all that was required for an improved effort in Mount Maunganui on Saturday.
“The cricket smarts is something I think we want to be just a little bit better at – it’s something we do pride ourselves on but it just wasn’t there.
“It’s probably [about] awareness, and just making an adjustment to the opposition.”
That opposition happens to be one of the best sides in the world, and the Black Caps will need to be near their best to get back on level terms.
Additional reporting – NZ Herald
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http://www.ncairways.co/black-caps-v-india-odi-new-zealands-loss-highlights-improvements-needed-ahead-of-bay-oval-cricket-match/
