The Napier ODI defeat against India has opened out some real issues of New Zealand cricket team. Now, the left-arm pacer Trent Boult claimed that they have to give importance to their obvious issues to achieve success.
After winning the toss in that series opener of the five-match ODI series, New Zealand decided to bat first but they were bundled out for just 157 runs in 38 overs. Apart from the experienced batsmen Kane Williamson (64) and Ross Taylor (24), there were no other New Zealand batsmen to play the 20-run marks.
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Later in the middle of the second innings of that game, India got a revised target of 156 runs in 49 overs (DLS method) after the inappropriate sunlight interrupted that game for 30 minutes. Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan guided the visiting side for the easy victory as he played an unbeaten knock of 75 runs off 103 balls and India chased the revised target in 34.5 overs after losing just two wickets. Indian skipper Virat Kohli also played an important knock of 45 runs off 59 balls.
Talking about their last ODI defeat, the Kiwi pacer Boult said, “I think it’s obvious we know where we went wrong. We were severely outplayed the other day.”
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Boult has noted two key issues of the New Zealand side. He feels that they have to improve in those crucial areas to make a comeback in the series. The 29-year-old Boult wants a good total on the board to stay in the game for a long time.
Prior to the second ODI, he said, “and obviously put a good target on the board… it’s about batting in partnerships and taking the game deep so we can really cash in those later overs.”
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Boult further added that they need to be aggressive with the ball at the beginning to create pressure on the opponent side.
He added, “We know that early wickets in this format kind of kill you. If we can get three wickets in the first 10 overs, we know what pressure that puts on the rest of the team in the shed. They are human and they do make mistakes.”
