EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE THE HINDU DELHI SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2020 SPORT 17 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Classy Williamson propels New Zealand Southee — man for all seasons Old-school swing bowler has adapted to the modern game Ishant’s strikes keep India in the game; Taylor digs in with his skipper to raise 93 for the third wicket Special Correspondent there ever is a safe number into play a little more. INDIA IN NZ Wellington and so I think it’s just about “Yeah I think the way we Tim Southee is a man for all us putting partnerships to­ bowled this morning was S. Dinakar seasons. He never com­ gether and batting as long as pretty good. To finish the In­ Wellington plains, never grumbles, just we can. Then going out and dian batting line­up like that Kane Williamson picked the does his job. doing our job with the ball. with two dangerous players length early and played the Just as he did at the Basin It’s obviously going to be in the morning.” ball late like great batsmen Reserve here on the first two tougher in the second in­ Talking about his swing, do. He had the time to essay days, scalping four. nings for us bowlers.” Southee said, “I probably his shots and the timing to An old­school swing bow­ He acknowledged there gave up worrying about ease the ball between fiel­ ler he has adapted to the had been some turn. “There speed a while ago, so I’ve got ders. modern game. is a little bit of spin. You to rely on other skills. And, I Men such as Williamson And he can turn adversity don’t usually see that on Day guess, swing." play with the field, they open — the physically draining 2 at the Basin. That’s why the up gaps, disrupt bowlers’ task of bowling against the first innings becomes impor­ World­class bowlers rhythm, create opportuni­ wind — into his strength. tant.” About Jasprit Bumrah hav­ ties. Yet, his innings on Sa­ Southee said the run­out ing an off­day, Southee said, turday, the second day of the No guesses of Rishabh Pant was a big “I don’t think there’s anyth­ first Test at the Basin Re­ Both Prithvi Shaw and R. breakthrough, “because he ing wrong with him. He’s a serve, ended in anticlimactic Ashwin were opened up and can be such a dangerous world­class bowler." fashion. castled by this 31­year­old se­ player.” On Ishant, Southee said, nior professional, with 274 The Kiwi added, “We “He’s been a world­class Quality innings Test scalps. Yet, Southee was knew, though, if we could bowler for a long time. He’s His strength, the cover­drive, wary against making predic­ open one end up then Jinks got experience.” proving his undoing. Wil­ tions or naming the target [Ajinkya Rahane] was look­ About himself, the Kiwi is liamson could not keep his his team could face. ing to play a little bit more modest but is often in the shot off seamer Mohammed He said, “I don’t think aggressively, which brings us swing of things. Shami down and was held by substitute Ravindra Jadeja, diving forward. Nevertheless his 89 was an innings of qual­ Ishant can deliver even in his sleep! ity and substance. Yet credit to the Indians — Exquisite: Kane Williamson showed why he may be counted among the greats with a finely crafted innings.* GETTY IMAGES dismissed for 165 — for fight­ Jet-lagged and rusty, the pacer still leads the attack ing back. They hung in there, bowled against the wind and drives, the on­drives and the move the last five wickets. out­swingers going. S. Dinakar continued to keep attacking there was some drift for him. cuts. The skipper was in Rishabh Pant began with a Rahane (46) did not last Wellington fields and hit back in the last control. rousing six, smoking left­arm long either, unable to take session. New Zealand was Off­colour Bumrah Taylor had his own meth­ spinner Ajaz Patel over long­ his bat away in time to a All he needs now is a night’s 216 for five when play Apart from Ishant, who test­ ods of coping with the pres­ on. However, a poor judg­ Southee ball, delivered wide sleep. “A good sleep is the reached an early conclusion ed batsmen with his line and sures of a personal miles­ ment call from Ajinkya Ra­ of the crease. best way to recover,” he said because of insufficient light. bounce to scalp three, the In­ tone. He slog­swept Ashwin hane — he ran without cau­ amidst laughter! Earlier, the host was coast­ dian pacemen largely disap­ for a six, and then leaned in­ tion after playing Tim Comical drop Ishant hasn’t slept since ing at 166 for two — a poten­ pointed. Jasprit Bumrah was to a cover­drive off Bumrah. Southee to point — resulted Despite some brave blows by he landed in New Zealand, tially huge lead in sight — off­colour. The mercurial Taylor’s in Pant being run­out; Ajaz Shami and a comical drop by apart from a couple of hours when Ishant Sharma got a The seamers should have cuts scorched the turf; on scoring a direct hit from Williamson when the wind here and there. delivery to climb into Taylor bowled a fuller length that view was his bat­speed. point. took the skier away from He’s jet­lagged and sleep­ (44), who, unable to keep the the Kiwi pacemen had em­ Then, Southee removed him, the Indian innings con­ deprived, had not played for sphere down, was picked up ployed with success to test Quick end Ashwin off his next delivery, cluded soon. weeks, had battled a grade by short­leg. footwork and find edges. Earlier, the Kiwis made short a mean ball that pitched on There were four wickets III tear in his ankle, and ar­ The dismissal ended the They needed to force the work of the Indians — the middle and hit off. each for Kyle Jamieson and rived in New Zealand only a 93­run third­wicket partner­ Kiwi batsmen to come for­ host needed just 13.1 overs Bowling against the wind, Southee, a combination of couple of days before the ship between Taylor and Wil­ ward to well pitched up de­ on the second morning to re­ Southee was able to get his the new and old. Test. liamson. Kohli did well to liveries and cover for the SCOREBOARD Ishant admitted, “Physi­ keep the short­leg. swing. If they didn’t do so, cally I wasn’t feeling really All for the team: Ishant Sharma’s selfless effort drew Then, late in the day, the they would be caught at the INDIA — 1ST INNINGS Total (in 68.1 overs): 165. c sub b Shami 89 (153b, 11x4), good because of lack of admiration from his mates. * AP left­handed Henry Nicholls crease. sleep. But I was rather happy Prithvi Shaw b Southee 16 FALL OF WICKETS Ross Taylor c Pujara b Ishant 44 was held in the slips off an Ishant struck for India (18b, 2x4), Mayank Agarwal c 1­16 (Shaw, 4.2 overs), 2­35 (71b, 6x4, 1x6), Henry Nicholls c with my bowling, and how I did not, what could I do? said defending Jasprit Ashwin delivery that spun when the Kiwis replied; he Jamieson b Boult 34 (84b, 5x4), (Pujara, 15.3), 3­40 (Kohli, 17.5), Kohli b Ashwin 17 (62b, 2x4), had recovered from the inju­ Eventually, I had to bowl 21 Bumrah. away. had Tom Latham taken Cheteshwar Pujara c Watling b 4­88 (Mayank, 34.3), 5­101 (Vi­ B­J. Watling (batting) 14 (29b, ry.” overs in two days at the NCA He was proud of the man­ The Indians kept the be­ down the leg­side and cas­ Jamieson 11 (42b, 1x4), Virat hari, 41.1), 6­132 (Pant, 58.2), 7­ 1x4), Colin de Grandhomme before being cleared.” ner in which India fought lief. Even after the Kiwis had tled Tom Blundell (30), who Kohli c Taylor b Jamieson 2 (7b), 132 (Ashwin, 58.3), 8­143 (Ra­ (batting) 4 (2b, 1x4); Extras Demanding phase Ishant turned in a credita­ back. “This team keeps fight­ surpassed the Indian score, played some fluent pulls and Ajinkya Rahane c Watling b hane, 62.3), 9­165 (Ishant, (b­1, lb­1, w­5): 7. Total (for 5 Ishant had gone through a ble performance on the se­ ing till the match is over. At Kohli had a slip and two cover drives, with a Southee 46 (138b, 5x4), 67.3). wkts. in 71.1 overs): 216. mentally demanding phase, cond day of the Test here, no stage do we give up.” short­legs when Ashwin op­ nip­backer. Hanuma Vihari c Watling b Jam­ NEW ZEALAND BOWLING FALL OF WICKETS getting injured in a Ranji scalping three. Being tall, Ishant said, 1­26 (Latham, 10.2), 2­73 erated at Williamson, well in­ And the 100­Test man, ieson 7 (20b, 1x4), Rishabh Pant Southee 20.1­5­49­4, Boult Trophy game and then tra­ The senior bowler, he was had its advantages. “Tall run out 19 (53b, 1x4, 1x6), R. 18­2­57­1, de Grandhomme 11­ (Blundell, 26.4), 3­166 (Taylor, to his 80s. Ross Taylor, walking in to a velling to NCA, Bengaluru protective of his pack. bowlers can get lift and you Ashwin b Southee 0 (1b), Ishant 5­12­0, Jamieson 16­3­39­4, 52.1), 4­185 (Williamson, 62.4), There was some turn and memorable ovation, joined Sharma c Watling b Jamieson 5 Ajaz 3­2­7­0.