WTC final pretty even at moment, crucial to keep ball in reasonable areas: Jamieson

Jun 20, 2021

Southampton [UK], June 20 : New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson feels the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) final against India is evenly poised after the end of the second day's play on Saturday.
Jamieson had broken a promising opening partnership between Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, the pair adding 62, and was generally satisfied with the performance of the Kiwi bowlers on a day that was disrupted by bad light.
"It's probably pretty even at the moment. It was a pretty good day of Test cricket. The disruptions didn't help some of the momentum we were trying to get and that we had at periods of time," said Jamieson during a virtual press conference.
"They played really well, they put away the bad balls when they were there and they were really patient outside off. Our plan was to stick around there and credit to them, they played pretty well. But I think we were able to keep things relatively restricted and grabbed three important wickets as well," he added.
Jamieson said no one wants the WTC final to get curtailed by rain or bad light and is hopeful to have some good game time on Sunday.
"Oh, yeah, certainly pretty frustrating, when you bowl three or four balls and you go off and then come back on for another couple and then you go off again, it's not how you'd like it ideally.
"Again, it's just the cards we've been dealt, and it's the same with rain. We've all played in games throughout our careers where we've been off for rain or off for bad light.
"Obviously the spectacle is such a special one for everyone involved, and you don't want that to be curtailed by bad light or rain, but it's part and parcel of what we sign up for, and hopefully we get some good amount of play in tomorrow," said Jamieson while replying to a query from ANI.
The 26-year-old was particularly miserly, taking 1/14 from 14 overs as India finished the day on 146/3 from 64.4 overs.
Jamieson was pleased with New Zealand's bowling on day two of the WTC final against India.
"It's obviously pretty crucial to try to keep the ball in reasonable areas for long periods and those runs are there, but it was just good to halt the momentum a little bit. How we did that as a bowling unit throughout the day after they started pretty well, was pleasing and it kept things in the balance very nicely," said Jamieson.
"We know they are a quality line-up from one to 11 and there is a reason why they have been one of the top teams in the world for a very long time. For us, as a unit, it was about keeping the ball in the right areas for long periods and I think we were able to do that for the most part today. We'll certainly take a lot of confidence out of that moving into tomorrow," he signed off.