Grabbing momentum is the key, says Sodhi
After New Zealand slipped from the top spot in the International Cricket Council Twenty20 International team rankings following its 53-run defeat in the first of three games against India on Wednesday, Ish Sodhi wanted his team to spoil the home side’s party in Rajkot in the second fixture on Saturday (November 4).
Sodhi, who picked up two wickets for just 25 runs in a big Indian innings of 202 for 3 in the Mumbai game, felt winning the key moments would add up to winning the match.
“T20 cricket is all about momentum and I think they (India) put on a good partnership at the start (158 between openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma) that set up the momentum for the rest of the game,” he said on the eve of the second game. “I think that's just about recognising those key moments and how we can slow their momentum down.”
During the preceding One-Day International series, New Zealand had taken a 1-0 lead and India bounced back to make it 2-1. New Zealand must do what India did in the T20Is now, and Sodhi said his team will keep its head down and do what it does best: Focus purely on the game rather than the series situation.
“Every game we play, we try to put on our best performance and try to win for our country and we're going to approach the same way,” he said. “We'll come to the ground tomorrow, have a look at the wicket, distinguish how we're going to play and hopefully combat the conditions well enough to come out on top. Being 0-1 down in a series is always tough, but it's two games to come and we'll have to give our best shot.”
Tackling the Indian spinners will again be crucial, Sodhi said: “I think we put up a fantastic performance in Mumbai (in the first ODI of the three-game series lost by the visitors 1 -2) and played pretty well for that win. I think the second game is the only one we kind of struggled with. But the third ODI was a fantastic game and I think we chased extremely well. We showed that we can play spin a lot better than sides that have come here in the past.”
Rajkot could give us another big-scoring game just like New Delhi and New Zealand will be hoping the other bowlers can follow Sodhi's example. “Taking the conditions into account, especially in T20s, is really important because you have to try and get something out of the wicket or conditions because batsmen are constantly trying to get after the spinners,” he said.
“I'd like to think that I've improved a lot since the last time I came here. Generally, the driving force is trying to improve and I got 2 for 25 the other day. It's been nice to spend extra time here with the A team, so the acclimatisation has been a lot easier since the last time I was here.”