'Using the short ball was a good plan'- Trent Boult after dismissing Virat Kohli in the Wellington Test

The third day of a Test match is generally referred to as the moving day and it turned out that in the first Test between India and New Zealand at the Basin Reserve with the hosts firmly in the ascendency after having taken four Indian second innings defeats with the visitors still in the arrears. India had started the third day on the best possible note when they dismissed BJ Watling and Tim Southee within the space of the first 30 minutes.

But post that first half-hour, it was all New Zealand as the hosts– thanks to the counter-attacking knocks by Kyle Jamieson and Trent Boult– piled on the agony on the Indian bowlers by taking the lead past the 175-mark.

If Boult was instrumental in taking the wind out of the Indian challenge thanks to his counter-attacking knock in which he stroked five hours and one six, the left-hander was equally lethal with the bowl as he and New Zealand employed the short-pitch strategy against the Indian top-order to claim three wickets including the prized scalp of Virat Kohli [19].

Trent Boult ecstatic at the fruitful culmination of the short-ball ploy

Kohli was the second victim to Trent Boult’s short-pitch ploy as the Indian captain failed to counter the bounce and in an attempt to pull, gave an easy catch to BJ Watling. Boult, who had earlier revealed his penchant for dismissing batsman of the calibre of Virat Kohli, was chuffed to bits on the successful implementation of his plan against the No.1 ranked batsman.

“Almost every time we miss, he hits and he hits it well and gets boundaries. From our point of view, we are just trying to dry the boundaries for him. I think using the wicket and using the short ball was a good plan and being able to control his run rate. It’s nice to draw the air out of him,” Boult said as quoted by India Today.

Post the dismissal of Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Hanuma Vihari took India to stumps without further damage. The visitors finished the day at 4-144 and are still 39 runs behind the Kiwis. Boult enthused confidence in the bowlers getting the job done on Monday but maintained that there is still a lot of cricket to be played.

“I hope I don’t have to bat again. If I do my job we won’t be chasing too much. It’s a very good wicket (and) we know that we have to be on the ball. We can’t be walking around feeling we’re well ahead of the game because there is a lot of cricket to be played.” Boult added

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