New Zealand captain, Brendon McCullum, was delighted with the way that his side had executed their game plan in the first ODI of the series against India at McLean Park, using a liberal helping of short deliveries, and with the tactic proving effective and ultimately successful, the second match in Hamilton, is likely to see more of the same from the Black Caps quick bowlers.
Interestingly though, McCullum’s opposite number, MS Dhoni, was not concerned with the outcome of his team’s ability to play the short pitched deliveries, despite losing four of his top six batsmen in the order to short pitched bowling.
All that he was looking for from his side, was a more judicious use of the pull and hook shots.
Dhoni expects and will encourage his batsmen to continue to play the shot in the second game of the series, despite going 1-0 behind, when they lost by 24 runs at McLean Park.
He explained that his players like to play pull and cut shots, and that they are generally successful in their uses, so why should they abandon the use of those particular shots.
With two bouncers per over allowed, playing four fast bowlers, allows New Zealand to deliver 80 balls in the 50 overs that they bowl, which are short pitched. Not attempting to score from those deliveries, would seriously curtail India’s chances of making a challenging total.
Dhoni also stated that despite the fact that his spinners would be less effective on New Zealand wickets than they are in the sub continent, he would continue to rely on them through the current series.
However, their role would have to become more defensive on the less responsive pitches away from India, and that a major part of their role would be to build pressure on the opposition batsmen by denying them run scoring opportunities, as much as it is to take wickets when they play at home.