Veteran New Zealand pacer Trent Boult on Friday said that he expects the green top at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch will be more beneficial for his brand of swing bowling as compared to the Basin Reserve track where they dismantled India’s line-up and won by 10 wickets in the opening Test. Boult bagged four wickets in India’s second innings which included Cheteshwar Pujara and skipper Virat Kohli.
“…it’s probably better (than bowling at the Basin). The Basin generally turns into a very nice batting surface. There’s a lot of runs been scored there both in domestic and international cricket,” Trent Boult said at the pre-match press conference ahead of the second Test that starts on Saturday.
“Here’s a slightly different story,” he said while referring to the Christchurch strip. “You are not battling the wind first of all. The overheads are there and it’s generally a nice place to pitch the ball up and get it swinging around. “So we do enjoy coming here as a bowling unit. Hopefully, we can continue that over the next couple of days.”
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The green top in Christchurch naturally helps the quick bowler and Boult is one of the quickest bowlers in the circuit.
“It’s pretty exciting. Traditionally, you come down here, you normally see a bit of grass. From my point of view, I will be happy to see it stays like that and the ball moving around,” he said.
Trent Boult also said that Kyle Jamieson, after his match-winning all-round show in Wellington, will be preferred over left-arm orthodox bowler Ajaz Patel in the second Test.
“If we look at the record here from specifically New Zealand spinners, there haven’t been too many wickets taken by spinners. If that suggests there isn’t much turn or they haven’t bowled, I am not too sure, but generally it’s a good wicket that has good pace and carry. I know it swings around here a bit and it is generally a good wicket, a good contest between the bat and ball. That” what we are going to expect,” Trent Boult concluded.