New Zealand captain Ross Taylor praised his team's fighting spirit after the Kiwis claimed their first Test win on Australian soil for 26 years with a dramatic seven-run victory in the second and final Test at Hobart.
The Black Caps looked destined for a 2-0 whitewash defeat with Australia on 159-2 in pursuit of the their 241 victory target, however seamer Doug Bracewell had other ideas.
The 21-year-old, playing in only his third Test match, turned in sensational figures of 6-40 to send the Aussies crashing to 233 all out and squaring the series in the process.
And Taylor was quick to praise the heart of his players, who had slumped to a heavy nine-wicket reverse in the first Test at the Gabba.
"I've had over 50 text messages on my phone, I think it's pretty big," Taylor said.
"Rugby is obviously our number one sport but any sport against Australia and winning in Australia the New Zealand public enjoys.
"The New Zealand public knows the New Zealand cricket team when it plays against Australia is always the underdog but they don't like it when we don't show much fight.
Outstanding
"We didn't do it in Brisbane but we showed a lot of ticker today."
New Zealand's previous Test triumph over the Australians was 23 Tests ago at Auckland's Eden Park in 1993.
"We believed in ourselves that we could win this match, we know we had to fight, we had to play a lot better than we did in Brisbane," Taylor added.
Bracewell turned the match around with the wickets of Ricky Ponting (16), Michael Clarke (0), Michael Hussey (0), James Pattinson (4), Mitchell Starc (0) and Nathan Lyon (9).
"He bowled outstandingly well for a young guy, 21, and to come in only his third Test and to get Ponting, Clarke and Hussey, that's something to tell your grandkids about," Taylor said.
"Doug can hit the deck but also can swing it away and as captain you've got to go on hunches and I thought Dougie would bowl well, but not that well."
Taylor, in only his third Test as captain, insisted he always felt the match was there for the taking, even with Australia in such a strong position at lunch on day four.
"We knew we needed wickets before lunch. I never batted well, but I never felt in on that wicket so I knew it wasn't going to be easy to bat on that wicket, it was still nipping around on day four," he said.
"So we knew that wickets fall in clumps and you still had to be as upbeat as possible. Whatever position we were in we tried to believe in ourselves and we did.
"That was for the New Zealand public and an early Christmas present, I guess."
Source:
skysports.com
The Black Caps looked destined for a 2-0 whitewash defeat with Australia on 159-2 in pursuit of the their 241 victory target, however seamer Doug Bracewell had other ideas.
The 21-year-old, playing in only his third Test match, turned in sensational figures of 6-40 to send the Aussies crashing to 233 all out and squaring the series in the process.
And Taylor was quick to praise the heart of his players, who had slumped to a heavy nine-wicket reverse in the first Test at the Gabba.
"I've had over 50 text messages on my phone, I think it's pretty big," Taylor said.
"Rugby is obviously our number one sport but any sport against Australia and winning in Australia the New Zealand public enjoys.
"The New Zealand public knows the New Zealand cricket team when it plays against Australia is always the underdog but they don't like it when we don't show much fight.
Outstanding
"We didn't do it in Brisbane but we showed a lot of ticker today."
New Zealand's previous Test triumph over the Australians was 23 Tests ago at Auckland's Eden Park in 1993.
"We believed in ourselves that we could win this match, we know we had to fight, we had to play a lot better than we did in Brisbane," Taylor added.
Bracewell turned the match around with the wickets of Ricky Ponting (16), Michael Clarke (0), Michael Hussey (0), James Pattinson (4), Mitchell Starc (0) and Nathan Lyon (9).
"He bowled outstandingly well for a young guy, 21, and to come in only his third Test and to get Ponting, Clarke and Hussey, that's something to tell your grandkids about," Taylor said.
"Doug can hit the deck but also can swing it away and as captain you've got to go on hunches and I thought Dougie would bowl well, but not that well."
Taylor, in only his third Test as captain, insisted he always felt the match was there for the taking, even with Australia in such a strong position at lunch on day four.
"We knew we needed wickets before lunch. I never batted well, but I never felt in on that wicket so I knew it wasn't going to be easy to bat on that wicket, it was still nipping around on day four," he said.
"So we knew that wickets fall in clumps and you still had to be as upbeat as possible. Whatever position we were in we tried to believe in ourselves and we did.
"That was for the New Zealand public and an early Christmas present, I guess."
Source:
skysports.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment