WTC final: India losing couple of wickets will improve both teams' chances of winning, says Neesham
Jun 23, 2021
Southampton [UK], June 23 : All-rounder Jimmy Neesham on Wednesday said if India loses two wickets quickly in the second session of the Reserve Day, then it will improve New Zealand's chances of winning the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) final.
Taking to Twitter, Neesham wrote: "Ironically if India were to lose a couple of wickets here it would not only improve NZ's chance of winning but also India's."
A lead of 98 runs for India, the need to pick five wickets for New Zealand to get a target to chase and a minimum of 73 overs still to be played put the WTC final in the balance going into the lunch break at the Ageas Bowl on the Reserve Day.
New Zealand couldn't have asked for a better start to the morning session as they dismissed skipper Virat Kohli (13), deputy Ajinkya Rahane (15), and Cheteshwar Pujara (15). But going into the lunch break, India's score read 130/5 with Rishabh Pant (28) and Ravindra Jadeja (12) looking in control.
Tim Southee dropping Pant with the batsman on 5 could well come back to haunt the Kiwis as he has grown from strength to strength and looked to not tinker with anything outside the off-stump. While patience isn't his biggest virtue, Pant has looked to play the balls mostly on merit.
In the dying minutes of the first session on the Reserve Day, it was some good batting from Pant and Jadeja that saw the team through to the break.
Day 1 and 4 of the ongoing WTC final were abandoned without a ball being bowled due to rain and that is why the Reserve Day came into the equation.
