Franklin was the key: Taylor
First Published : 11 Sep 2012, 23:50
Last Modified : 11 Sep 2012, 23:50
Chennai, Sep 11: After the washout in Vizag, the second Twenty20 International between India and New Zealand in Chennai turned out to be a thriller. At the end of it, the visitors maintained their 100 per cent winning rate against India in the shortest format with a one-run victory to clinch the series 1-0.
When Virat Kohli (70) and comeback man Yuvraj Singh (34) were going great guns in a 168-run chase, the match seemed all but over for the Kiwis. But an inspired performance with the ball in the death, combined with a fine effort in the field, helped them snatch the game away from India on the final ball of the match.
In the post-match presentation, while Indian skipper MS Dhoni rued the slowness of the wicket in the second innings, his Kiwi counterpart Ross Taylor praised Brendon McCullum (91) and James Franklin (two for 26) for seeing their team over the line.
Excerpts:
MS Dhoni
On the match being lost in the last five overs
They bowled brilliantly and not to forget the wicket slowed down a bit and made it difficult to hit boundaries as this is one of the bigger grounds. All the balls didn’t bounce equally and it was holding up a bit. Yuvraj and I found a bit difficult. This was the game, which we should have won, but it’s not about what should have happened.
On the team getting the chase off to a good start
I thought initially we batted superbly where Virat gave us a very good start and then Raina and Yuvraj also batted well. That’s the biggest positive we’ll take into the World Twenty20.
On whether the team fancied chasing down 167
We did a lot; but there was only one worry of how the wicket would behave. At times, this wicket behaves well in the second half, but today it got slower. Had it remained the same throughout the 40 overs, we had a very good chance.
On the importance of the build up to the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka
To play a few games before going into the World Cup is very important. We have two practice games in Sri Lanka to get us into the groove. One of the biggest worries for me was our batsmen playing too many shots at the start of the innings. That has happened with us in the past when we’ve played a one-off T20I; but it was good to see we took care of that today.
Ross Taylor
On James Franklin’s match-winning two for 26
Franklin deserves a big pat on the back for coming and bowling four straight overs. It’s difficult for the best bowlers in the world to come out and do that in that situation. But for him to do it against the very experienced Indian batsmen was great.
On the momentum shift in the match
We gave ourselves a chance with Brendon McCullum’s innings, which was fantastic. We were in trouble when Brendon and Kyle Mills collided and Virat Kohli batted very well for them and he could’ve taken the match away from us. But a good catch from Tim Southee got us back into the game.
On this tour of India
It’s been a tough tour. The Test series was difficult, but we’ll take this win and hopefully continue in this vein for a couple of more weeks and you never know. We will take the momentum and the confidence of this win to Sri Lanka for the World Twenty20.
