- Gurnoor Brar excelled, taking four wickets on New Zealand’s seam-friendly pitches.
- Brar leveraged extra bounce, effectively bowling hard lengths and bouncers.
- His performance earned Player of Match, securing India’s 2-0 series lead.
Wellington: India fast bowler Gurnoor Brar was pleased to have made the most of the seam-friendly conditions in New Zealand, as he took a four-wicket haul during India’s win in the second match at Hnry Stadium here on Saturday.
Gurnoor took 4-30 and was named the Player of the Match in India’s four-run win (DLS method) during the second game. He had also taken 3-44 in the first ODI as he is enjoying bowling in the bouncy conditions in New Zealand.
Speaking after the second ODI, the speedster reflected on his performance and bowling plans. “I really enjoyed it. Bowling here in New Zealand, the bounce and the pace really helped me, so I enjoyed it,” Gurnoor said in the post-match presentation.
With pitches flat in India, the tall 6’5 speedster hits hard lengths, with consistent speeds of over 140kph, which has found seven more success in overseas conditions such as in New Zealand. “Obviously, in India the pitches are quite flat, so we have to bowl that hard length. But here, there’s that extra bounce. So I was just bowling to my strengths, and it worked.
“If you’re a fast bowler bowling at an average of 140 or 142 (kmph), you have to be aggressive as well. But you have to know your limits too. I just enjoy it and keep bowling,” he added.
The speedster took all of his wickets off back-of-length deliveries or bouncers during the second game. “I just try to bowl that hard length, the lengths where batters try to pull. I don’t want to bowl it very high; I just keep bowling at shoulder level,” he concluded.
India are now 2-0 up in the five-match series with three more games to go. They were asked to chase a meagre 135 from 47 overs, and they were 113/7 with KL Rahul in the middle alongside Auqib Nabi before rain played the spoilsport and India went on to win the game by four runs (DLS method).
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