Ross Taylor: ‘We were 10-15 runs short’

The New Zealand batsman admits India’s batsmen played excellently to script a six-wicket win in the first T20I.

In full flow: Ross Taylor en route to his quickfire 54 (unbeaten) at Eden Park, Auckland, on Friday.

Ross Taylor admitted India’s batsmen played excellently to script a six-wicket win over New Zealand in the first T20I here on Friday.

Shreyas Iyer and K. L. Rahul struck half-centuries and Virat Kohli, the captain, scored 45 as India chased down its target of 204 with an over to spare. Taylor, who himself chipped in with a half-century, felt his team was 10-15 runs short.

“In the last three overs India bowled well and we didn’t get a big over. We still did get 100 in the last 10 overs to put pressure on them but it’s always hard to gauge,” he said after New Zealand’s loss.

‘Have to adapt’

“We bowled well but sometimes have to give credit to how batsmen are. In T20s, you have to learn quick and we have to adapt. Our bowlers will have to look at them and at the same time their batsmen are a class line-up all the way through. The way we attack them in the next game will be crucial. How we attack them and how we do that on Sunday,” he said.

Taylor felt New Zealand’s batsmen didn’t generate enough momentum in the last few overs. “A lot of times when you play at Eden Park, [the] wind is a factor and you are able to attack from both ends. It was hard to know what a good total is. They won with an over to spare so we were definitely 10-15 runs short,” he said.

“What they did better was we lost couple of wickets in crucial stages and the new batsmen were not able to get the momentum or rotate strike. In India’s batting, we were not able to get those quick dots and get the rate up to put them under pressure at 10-11 [runs per over]. We were stuck at nine and a half for a long time, and on Eden Park batsmen always feel comfortable,” he said.

‘Class bowler’

Taylor also pointed out the difference Jasprit Bumrah’s experience made in the death overs. “He has been a class bowler for a long time and one of the best death bowlers going around. He has a potent slow ball, and that extra pace, so you have to adapt to both the slower and quicker ball. He showed us what to expect and we need to learn quickly and play their bowlers slightly better,” he said.

 

The Eden Park pitch and ground came under scrutiny as bowlers from both sides went for runs. Taylor said the ground’s dimensions add an unpredictable factor to the game and added that both teams needed to adapt ahead of the second game here, on Sunday.

New dimension

“You just cannot be predictable with both bat and ball, and am not sure, what our extras count is. You can either bowl too short or too full we know that the short boundaries are very short so you cannot be predictable. On a good wicket, you can clear the boundaries with ease. Eden Park definitely adds a new dimension and what we have learnt is that in two games in a row it slows up a little bit. We just have to wait and see, and adapt, if there will be any dew. Eden Park is not the easiest ground to field with such low lights,” he said.

Taylor praised the way India went about its task. “They ran between the wickets fantastically well and sometimes touring teams can take a little time to get used to things here. But the way they played, last year they learnt playing on these grounds and adapted a lot quicker than they did last year,” he said.

Iyer and Manish Pandey came together after the dismissal of both K. L. Rahul and Virat Kohli, but were able to steady the ship.

Taylor said New Zealand’s bowlers needed to learn and adapt better as Iyer showed what he was capable of doing in the middle despite his relative inexperience. “[Iyer] is not very experienced in international cricket, but in a pressure situation made it look easy with some of those boundaries. If he had got out, then a new batsman coming in and couple of dots would have made the run rate up,” Taylor signed off.