Ahead of the second and final Test of the series in Basin Reserve, Kiwi pacer Tim Southee spoke about wanting to keep India winless on the tour, how the home pacers, working as a unit, will try and exploit the green track and the Indian batting.
On blanking India
They have obviously had a disappointing tour but are too good a side to roll over. They’ll come hard and they will want to have a win on the tour. They are a far better side than they have shown on this tour so far.
They have a lot to prove in this last Test and have got a lot of quality players. I am sure we are going to have to up our game. They’ll come out and look to finish their tour on a high. Hopefully, we can keep them winless on their trip to New Zealand. Clean sweep is on our mind.
On the pitch
It is a bit tough to see the difference between the pitch and outfield at the moment. It is usually a pretty good deck here. We will have to see how it is on the morning of the match. It is still another couple of days and a bit of sunlight on it will round that off a bit I am sure. But the bowlers have a spring in their step having a look at that. We are lucky enough to know the conditions. We have played here not that long ago against the West Indies. So it is not a hell lot of changes for us.
On Kiwi attack
It is nice to have an attack where you can take 20 wickets. We have done that over the last few Test matches. We have shown a lot of promise over the last year, year and a half and we keep continuing to improve. It is good. We all complement each other very well.
On Wagner
It is pleasing to see (Neil) Wagner finally get some credit for the hard work he’s done over the past few years. He compliments Trent (Boult) and me very well. He loves bowling with the old ball and somehow he manages to pick up wickets just before the second new ball and that makes it easier for us.
On Indian batting
We knew they are a promising batting line-up. They don’t have the names like the Tendulkars, the Dravids and the Laxmans anymore, but they have got the potential to be great players.
It is the first time to New Zealand for a few of those players and dealing with foreign conditions for them. We have bowled well as a unit and it has put pressure on their batsmen.
On Bond’s influence
We have put a lot of thought and research goes into plans before the series. It is pleasing to see them come off. Shane (Bond) and the computer analysts and (coach) Mike Hesson, they put these plans in.
