http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mike-J-Hesson-c76286 – Cricket News Update
Mike Hesson, New Zealand head coach, has expressed his appreciation for the team’s recently improved performances, which saw them putting up a valiant fight against India during a recently concluded 2-match Test series, before going on to concede a 0-2 defeat.
“... we have made huge progress in this Test,” observed Hesson. “The score we operated with in the first innings was more than competitive. To get a first-innings lead against a quality Indian side showed that we'd made some improvements there.”
Placed at number 8 on the ICC’s Test team rankings (directly above http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747), the Kiwis have been suffering a prolonged losing streak in the extended-overs format of the game, and came into their 2-match Test series against India after undergoing a severe
drubbing at the hands of the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 earlier this year in July-August.
The team went into the series with everything to gain, but received a wake-up call during the first Test, played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hyderabad-c792, from August 23 to 26. Faced with the Indian team’s onslaught, including a hard-hitting
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/PP-Ojha-c2198 (6 wickets), the visitors went on to concede defeat by a colossal margin of an innings and 115 runs.
However, the second and final match, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, saw the Black Caps putting up an impressive fight. Having won the toss and elected to bat, the tourists began the match on their terms, with the batsmen setting an aggressive,
dominant tone, led by skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/LRPL-Taylor-c1849 (113).
They posted a solid first innings total of 365, and followed up the batting effort with an intense bowling attack. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/TG-Southee-c2659, and the hosts were unable to establish a lead, restricted, all out,
to 353. However, from there onwards, it went downhill for the Kiwis.
“In the second innings the conditions were a bit tougher, we made a couple of errors at crucial times, we also could have fallen over but we didn't,” Hesson commented. “We took on some players with fearful records.”
Their second innings saw the Black Caps' batsmen failing to convert starts into substantial scores, with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/JEC-Franklin-c1684 remaining the top-scorer (41). The Kiwis eventually managed to set the Men in Blue a 261-run chase on the fourth day of play, and despite
a few stumbles, India made it over the finish line, claiming a 5-wicket win and the series, 2-0.
“In the end, we set them a challenging a total that gave our bowlers a real chance,” Hesson said, maintaining an optimistic outlook. “Sure we would have wanted more (runs). We still have to keep that positive mindset.”
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