Kanpur, Nov 29: New Zealand captain Kane Williamson on Monday described the draw against India in the first Test here as a “fantastic result” for his side as its preparations for the tour were “disjointed”.
New Zealand reached India just a day after losing the T20 World Cup final to Australia in Dubai. The Test series was preceded by a three-match T20 International series which India won 3-0.
“When a win was out of question, draw was the next best option to try and fight for. A number of really valuable contributions after a fairly disjointed preparation. And for us, it’s important that we look to make those adjustments quickly,” Williamson said in the post-match press conference.
“The result was was one ball away. But in the end, Rachin (Ravindra) in his first Test match and Ajaz (Patel) as well showed a lot of determination to bat those few overs before bad light,” he added.
“The lights getting dark and nine down and these sort of things make it a fantastic Test match with all the emotion involved,” Williamson said.
“Yesterday the game was in the balance and for us it was sort of some old school Test cricket, bat out a day and survive, which isn’t seen all that often in recent years, so it was pretty good fun and nice to come away.”
Asked if New Zealand thought of chasing down the target of 284, Williamson said, “We’re aware that all three results were possible. There was a lot of hard work to do to give yourself a chance to chase versus trying to chase too early and finding yourself in a sticky position.
“So it was a matter of trying to take the day deep and then if we got close we would have had a crack if we’re in the right position, but we weren’t in the end.”
Williamson admitted that India put his side under a lot of pressure throughout the day.
Williamson agreed to the suggestion that Tim Southee’s performance in this Test (eight wickets for 144 runs) could be the best by a New Zealand fast bowler in the subcontinental conditions. (PTI)
