Very nice to get Dhawan out in the end, says Trent Boult of his Sunrisers Hyderabad team-mate

The onus doubled up on Trent Boult to be the bowling spearhead for New Zealand in this series after Tim Southee returned home with an ankle injury even before the tour began.

Boult was involved in a nice little contest with Shikhar Dhawan, who is desperate to make himself counted by putting up some good score. Dhawan did not budge despite being hit twice on his left thumb with short-pitched deliveries for which he was later taken for a scan and report awaited.

Boult created doubt in the mind of the already sceptical Dhawan by beating his defence and was unlucky not to take the edge en route to the wicketkeeper.

Dhawan sought to avenge his Sunrisers Hyderabad team-mate in IPL by cutting a hip-high delivery for four and following it with a drive to the mid-wicket boundary. Just when Dhawan seemed to get his confidence back, he was consumed by Boult, who trapped him leg before for 17 as the batsman got stuck to his crease.

Speaking about his little contest against Dhawan, Boult, who picked up 2/28 in India’s second innings on Sunday, said: “Yeah, I enjoyed it and it was very nice to get him out in the end. We've been mates now for a couple of years and he is a class player. Not too much of a contest there. I was just trying to put the ball in a good areas and set-up the team.”

Boult may have consumed Dhawan. But he and his other bowlers were in for some punishment from Rohit Sharma, who pulled India out of trouble with an attractive 82. Boult gave credit to Sharma, who was responsible for India reaching 227/8 in their second innings, an overall lead of 339.

“Rohit applied himself very well and made some good decisions. He was tested there throughout how whole innings. A lot of credit to him on a wicket that is going up and down and a little bit of reverse swing there at the end. He batted very well,” Boult said.

New Zealand bowlers did very well to contain the Indian top-half but let the hosts run away with crucial runs from the lower half in both the innings (46/4 in first innings and 43/4 in second innings). The 27-year-old left-arm pacer said: “We were trying to apply the pressure for as long as we could and not let off at all throughout the whole innings. But we know and realise they are going to put partnerships together and we just can't afford to get frustrated by that. It is still a challenge as a bowling unit to not drift and release that pressure but it is something we are trying to get much better at,” said the bowler from Rotorua.

There were frequent field changes in India’s second innings. As a bowler, Boult said that it did not affect him or upset the plans. He said: “The luxury is we don’t just have one plan for each batter. By changing the field and manipulating people here and there is just moving between plans. Virat Kohli (who made 45) is a massive player for them and we know what a tone he sets in that batting order. It was nice to get him out eventually and we bowled very nicely to him to not let him cash in too nicely. To get him out for 40-odd was a massive wicket. We all bowled very nicely to him.”

Boult added that his team would do well to pick up hints from the way their No. 9 Jeetan Patel batted, top-scoring with 47 in the first innings. “He did very well. It's his first in a wee while and to come back and play an innings like that was good to watch. The rest of us can take a leaf out of his book and try to apply yourself like he did because they were valuable runs.”

Batting on tricky pitch is all about applying oneself. And Boult said that his team had the ability to score whatever was set.

“We have the guys with the ability to bat long periods of time. In terms of the wicket, there is a little bit of variation in bounce and that is obviously going to be in the back of a few of our minds. We have to take it small steps at a time. If we can tick off our goals of trying to bat for half a session, then a session and just keep them out there and try to build like that. Anything that is set is definitely achievable.”

Boult believed that one batsman who could prove vital in the run chase was their wicketkeeper BJ Watling. When asked if Watling was too good a batsman to be wasted at No. 7, Boult disagreed.

“The role he has played over the series, he has contributed massively with the bat and obviously his experience and work behind the stumps as well. He is not wasted (at No. 7). He is a massive part of the upper lower order. He is going to play a big role in the run chase coming up,” Boult said.

Boult said that the weather conditions tested his team. “These are some of the tougher conditions I've ever played in my career. I'm not too sure what it looks like on TV but it is pretty taxing. Obviously, the dryness in the wicket and in the air is pretty tough. The last session is probably the easiest session in terms of heat. You are just sapped by the time that comes around.

“The guys did extremely well to put the balls in the areas and apply that pressure. It was spoken in the huddle that we weren't just going to let them drift away with the game with a figure in mind. We wanted to put pressure on them and make them earn every run. I think we did very well.”

Asked what the mindset was of the bowling group, Boult said: “We didn’t want to give away anything too easy or too soft. We knew if we put the ball in the areas we did we were going to be very challenging. Matt (Henry) has come back into the test arena and really stepped up, he has been superb and backed up by the rest of the bowlers. We've been in positions before we've had a deficit and we've had to bowl ourselves to get us back in a good position.”