New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: “We're just a bunch of Kiwis taking on the world, having fun and trying to win games for our country and are very proud to do so. Hopefully, we can just keep chipping away, like Kiwis do.”
This was Daryl Mitchell at the post-day press conference at the Wankhede stadium on Friday, and you could tell he meant every single word.
New Zealand have stunned the hosts by going 2-0 up in the three-match series, and they have also given a good account of themselves in the third Test. After being bowled out for 235 on a turner, New Zealand reduced India to 86 for 4, losing three wickets in the last eight balls of the day.
“There's a number of guys who have played not only Test cricket but a lot of international cricket in this part of the world now,” he said. “We know how we want to go about playing on these surfaces and against a world-class bowling attack.”
“As for the wickets, we applied pressure on them because we know that in Test cricket, one brings two so we can’t take our foot off at any stage. Our efforts paid off today.”
In comparison to Bengaluru and Pune, the Kiwis didn’t play nearly as many sweeps in the first innings of this contest, and Mitchell cited extra bounce as a reason for this adaptation. “Something we pride ourselves on is how we adapt to different conditions,” he started. “Knowing the red soil and the bounce that can produce at times, it's finding the right times to use the sweep. There is risk with playing the sweep on this pitch so we have to be careful. That’s what we did.”
Besides the pitch itself, the conditions in Mumbai were not fun for the players. Mitchell, especially, was struggling to cope, seen cramping on several occasions. “It really did take it out of us, that first hour after lunch. Even a number of the Indian players were commenting on how much they were battling with it. All I did was focus on my breathing to ensure my core body temperature remained low. Luckily, tea was around the corner so I dove into an ice bath for around 10 minutes.”