Forced to settle for a draw after dominating the second Test for the first three days, a dejected New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori said the result could have gone in his team's favour had they been able to take a couple of early Indian wickets today.
Forced to settle for a draw after dominating the second Test for the first three days, a dejected New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori said the result could have gone in his team's favour had they been able to take a couple of early Indian wickets today.
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New Zealand enforced follow on but India showed great resilience to bat out the remainder of the match to force a draw. Vettori felt things could have been different if his bowlers could make early inroads today.
"We needed a couple of early wickets and I suppose when we got (Gautam) Gambhir and the third new ball came along there was another opportunity but Yuvraj (Singh) and (VVS) Laxman saw India through that period and once it was gone it was probably out of our reach," Vettori explained.
Asked if he would consider a missed opportunity to level the three-match series which India lead 1-0, Vettori said, "It's hard to say. The amount of pressure that we put India under was fantastic. The wicket was too good in the second innings and India decided to bat a lot more conservatively than they did in the first innings."
Vettori felt it still was a good performance by the Kiwis.
"We were dominant throughout the Test match. The ability to score those big runs should never be underestimated. And the performances of Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum with the bat backed up by a magnificent first innings bowling spell by guys like Chris Martin and Jeetan Patel. I was really pleased with that.
"Couldn't quite get the early wickets in the second innings and that was the only really hard thing about the Test match," he added.
"I'm pleased with the performance - our ability to hang in there for longer with the bat and put together a performance with the ball that was consistent all the way through.
"After the performance in Hamilton it was very pleasing to bounce back the way we did. Obviously disappointed not to get the win, not to be able to force the issue on the final day," Vettori said.
The Kiwi skipper also defended the decision to enforce follow on even if it didn't pay off in the end.
"The situation was that we had rolled them pretty quickly and had 17 overs to put them under a lot of pressure and I wanted to run with that. We got the crucial wicket of (Virender) Sehwag but from then on India batted resolutely throughout the whole next two days. I have no regrets with the decision (to enforce follow-on)," he said.
Vettori also lavished praise on Gambhir, his Delhi Daredevils teammate in the Indian Premier League, for batting nearly 11 hours to lead India's resurgence with a stellar ton.
"He did what India required of him. He batted for long periods of time and India needed to do that to save the Test match and you couldn't really ask for too much more from him," Vettori said.
Gambhir got a reprieve when Iain O'Brien dropped him today and asked if he thought the match was gone then, Vettori said, "I thought, when Jeets got Gambhir out, we had an opportunity with the third new ball with Chris (Martin) bowling as well as he did. Once that period was gone it was the defining moment for us when the Test match was gone."
According to him, New Zealand could still win after Sachin Tendulkar departed. "He looked the most comfortable of the Indian batsmen and played some shots and put us back under pressure whereas the other Indian batsmen looked to defend and soak up time. When Tendulkar was dismissed there was a good spirit in the team but I suppose the wicket got the better of us in the end," he said.
Nevertheless, the atmosphere was quite good in the dressing room, Vettori said.
"Guys feel pretty good. Chris Martin did a lot of work, bowled so well and was asked to bowl at critical times so that s a drain on him as well. Everyone in the shed's in pretty good spirit. I hope the intensity that we showed in this Test match will be there when we turn up at the Basin (Reserve)," he said.
Fielding for this long seemed to have taken its toll on the body language of the Kiwi players but Vettori said his teammates better get used to it.
"This is what Australia have had to do for a long long time, spend lots of time on the park and you should be able to adapt to it. This is the requirements of a good team.
"We know that we're nowhere near where we want to be as a Test playing nation but these are the days we're going to have to put up with if we want to get better. We have to bounce back pretty quickly so I don't have too many worries about the team. It's just the nature of Test cricket," Vettori added.
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