As Indian bowlers failed to find a breakthrough on the first session of Day five of the ongoing Test in Kanpur, former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull analysed the reason behind Indian bowlers failing to breach the defences of the Kiwi batters. William Sommerville, who came as a nightwatchman ahead of stumps on Day four, put on a gritty display, adding an unbeaten 75 runs for the second wicket alongside opener Tom Latham. “Look, it’s a testament of this whole side and how they play Test cricket. There was a lot of talk prior to the World Test Championship (WTC) final that New Zealand hadn’t really won overseas against tough oppositions. They’ve found it difficult in Australia, they’ve found it difficult, at times, in India but this is just the determination of this team,” Simon Doull said on Star Sports during the Lunch show.
“I don’t think that the Indian bowlers have done much wrong either. There’s not much in this pitch, it hasn’t crumbled, there hasn’t been much turn either. To be honest, the pitch hasn’t deteriorated the way we would’ve thought,” he added.
During the same discussion, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan also analysed the reason behind Indian bowlers failing to get a breakthorugh in the first session, saying that the Indian bowlers didn’t use the short-ball much against the Kiwi vice-captain, Latham, who is a brilliant player of spin.
“Absolutely. They kept bowling the bouncer to Sommerville, but when it comes to Latham they haven’t tried the bouncer much. We’ve been saying from Day one, you need to try bouncers.
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“We all know that Latham has been dismissed on so many occasions, so the pacers need to target him in that region. Bowling the bouncer will surely make some sort of difference,” said Pathan.
At Lunch on Day five, New Zealand were 79 for one with Sommerville and Latham batting on 36 and 35, respectively.
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