For a brief period during the first Test, India would have felt the jitters. Tom Latham and Kane Williamson added 124 for the second wicket in the first innings and that too in a decent 41 overs. Both made half-centuries and more importantly, looked composed, halfway through to the Indian first innings score. And then, it all changed.
Latham was trapped LBW, Ross Taylor was caught napping in front of the stumps by a quicker delivery from Jadeja that didn’t turn and Kane Williamson couldn’t keep a scintillating delivery from Ashwin out as it spun back sharply and broke his defence and crashed into the stumps. From 159 for 1 in the 52nd over, New Zealand were 170 for 4 in the 56th over.
Luke Ronchi, Mitchell Santner, and BJ Watling tried to steady the ship but in the end, their contributions didn’t prove enough as New Zealand conceded a substantial 56 run lead to India. They were never in the game after Williamson’s wicket. They have a short turnaround time to alter their fortunes. They didn’t do too many things wrong, mind you. But a few tweaks and fixes could definitely be made to the way they approach the second Test that starts at Eden Gardens on September 30th.
#1 Ross Taylor needs to fire
For a very long time, Ross Taylor was New Zealand’s best batsman. His thunder got stolen a little bit by Brendon McCullum and then by Kane Williamson. Still, if New Zealand have to post any challenge against India in their own den, Taylor needs to score. He came to India in good form but had two short innings; the first one lasted two deliveries.
The second time he had his eye in, having scored 17 off 36 balls, but gifted his wicket to the Indians, getting run-out not grounding his bat despite being inside the crease – one of the most unpardonable sins on a cricket ground. That showed, more than anything else, the lack of match awareness and a lackadaisical attitude that needs to be shelved. Williamson cannot do it alone, no matter how much quality has been packed in that tender figure of his. New Zealand need Guptill and Taylor to chip in.
#2 7-11 have to contribute more with the bat
In cricket, every wicket counts and New Zealand needs to be inspired by their star performer in the first Test, Mitchell Santner. Santner scored 71 off 179 deliveries in the second innings adding 102 with Luke Ronchi. Even in the first innings, he scored 32 off 107 balls and more importantly added 49 with Ronchi and another 36 with Watling. More importantly, he showed an ability to last, persist, despite good balls and fell both times to good deliveries from Ashwin.
In order to challenge India, New Zealand’s lower order needs to score more. New Zealand capitulated from 219 for 4 to 262 all out in the first innings. They lost their last five wickets in a space of 28 deliveries scoring just 7 runs. Compare this with India who were 209 for 5 and ended up on 318 with Ravindra Jadeja scoring a blistering 42 from No.9.
Even in the second innings, Jadeja and Rohit Sharma added 100 runs in 17.3 overs to affect a declaration. In the second innings, New Zealand crumbled under pressure once again, going from 158 for 4 to 236 all out. They lost their last 5 wickets for 42 runs.
#3 Sustaining pressure on Indian batsmen
Kane Williamson has rightly implored his bowlers to sustain pressure. Twice in two innings, New Zealand looked like they had the right bowling attack. But in both cases, they were undone by the lack of bowling consistency needed to could stifle the opposition giving away too many boundary balls. Ish Sodhi was particularly untidy in the second innings and Santner, who bowled better in the second innings, went for more than 4 per over in the first innings.
Given Kohli places a high premium on attacking batsmanship, New Zealand will need to come up with some plan to keep things tight with the ball, instead of dishing out full-tosses and wide deliveries that could be milked for plenty.
#4 The batting order
New Zealand’s batting order may need a slight tweak. BJ Watling is composed and has a good technique when it comes to dealing with quality spin. He is a little too low in the order at No.7. That position would be better suited to Luke Ronchi’s aggressive approach. Watling would be an excellent fit for No.5 from where he can steady the ship even if New Zealand have lost couple of quick wickets.
Ronchi for all his aggression isn’t technically sound enough and hence is better off lower down the order. His 80 makes a good case for leaving him be, but New Zealand need more solidity in the middle if Ross Taylor has another bad Test.
#5 Dealing with Ashwin and Jadeja’s variations
If you stay back, he will turn it big, like the ball he bowled to get Williamson. If you go forward, he will bowl the slider that goes straight on. And then there is the menace of the carrom ball that he bowls sparingly but very effectively, the one he flicks to make the ball turn the other way. Ashwin’s bag full of variations and tricks have become deadlier ever since he refined his off-spin.
He turns the off-break now, uses a lot of his body and most importantly gets dip and drift, the sign of true class. It is not easy to deal with Ashwin. The biggest problem is reading him – he bowls all his three variations with no change in his action, something that was lauded by the commentators during the first Test. Picking turn off the pitch could be a problem especially after the third day.
However, New Zealand have to figure out a way to deal with him. Williamson and Latham were able to sweep him effectively from outside the off-stump, something that works well on the sub-continent, employed by many like Alastair Cook and Matthew Hayden to thwart the bowlers. Easier said than done.
Maybe, the batsmen need to take a leaf out of Santner’s book, who survived close to 30 overs in the fourth innings all by himself. He looked at ease too for the greater part of the innings. Maybe New Zealand needs to go the McCullum way, attack a little more than what they did in the first Test.
Jadeja too is a menace on turning tracks with his accuracy. The natural variation is what makes him difficult to deal with as some of his deliveries turn and some don’t. Maybe, New Zealand could benefit from not assuming that every ball is going to turn, given how many wickets they lost in the first Test to reasonably straight deliveries that didn’t do much off the pitch.
#6 Scoring off the weakest link
While it is hard to score against Ashwin and Jadeja, New Zealand didn’t show much intent attacking India’s weakest link in the first Test. Umesh Yadav is fast and swings the ball. But, he could be wayward especially under pressure. In the first innings, he went for just 33 runs in 15 overs. Murali Vijay went for just 10 runs in 4 overs.
In the second innings, Ashwin and Jadeja bowled more than 69 overs out of 88 thus making run-scoring tough. Ronchi showed the way briefly scoring a brisk 80 off just 120 deliveries. New Zealand may need to employ more of that. Ronchi could don the role of McCullum who played counterattacking innings regularly.
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