 | « Back to article | Print this article |
'If you remove either Kohli or Dhoni, it nullifies India's chase'
Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand captain, has said the wickets of Virat Kohli and Dhoni proved crucial in the second one-dayer against India at Seddon Park, Hamilton.
The duo, who again anchored a spirited run-chase for the second time in two games, made fifties but could not save India from the defeat.
"We continue to learn that Kohli and Dhoni are very, very good players. They are obviously very good at how to construct a run chase. It's quite important to try and take wickets knowing that if you can remove one of those two, it goes a long way towards nullifying their chase," he said.
"They are a very good team. There are not too many teams around the world where you head in at half-time in a 42-over game with 300 on the board and you know that you still have to scrap pretty hard with the ball and in the field.
"Against this team, we know that's the case and thankfully we got it done under pressure today," he added.
'I think Anderson learnt quite a lot with the ball'
Anderson was one of the main attractions for the Kiwis, once again setting up their total with 44 runs off only 17 balls, and then taking 3-67 during the Indian chase. McCullum said the all-rounder gave the side a much-needed momentum to help them reach the "big score".
"Obviously his batting was brilliant again. He is such a clean striker and given that license, he can be incredibly damaging. With the ball, he did not start that well.
"One of the things we are trying to do is to ensure that you keep giving guys opportunities even though they may not start well but you need to keep coming back them. Otherwise they will never get the opportunity to learn either.
"So that's one thing that we are pretty keen on, still allowing him to have that opportunity under pressure at the end there to really stand up and show how he can operate under pressure. I thought he did that really well. I think he learnt quite a lot with the ball in hand today," he said.
'It's nice to see Southee get some personal satisfaction'
McCullum also praised pacer Tim Southee, who picked up 4-72, including his 100th ODI wicket in 76 matches.
"It was a really good performance and it is a nice milestone for him to celebrate. His career so far has been a little bit stop-start but he has shown that when he is fit and bowling well, how important he is to our side.
"He is a strong leader too within the bowling group for quite a young guy.
"It's nice to see him get some personal satisfaction with knocking off that milestone today. I thought his performance was really good for us and set us up quite nicely and in a different role too, bowling at first-change."