‘We can’t complain’: Black Caps refuse to rip extreme spin-friendly Indian pitch

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Nobody likely would have begrudged Michael Bracewell if he ripped the spin-friendly pitch in Lucknow.

But the Black Caps’ all-rounder refused to gripe about the surface, despite Indian journalists giving him every opportunity to do so in the aftermath of New Zealand’s six-wicket defeat to India on Monday morning (NZT).

Sure, he made it clear he wouldn’t want to play on a surface so testing for those wielding a hunk of willow on a regular basis, but lessons are there to be learnt from such matches, he said.

“It’s probably not a wicket that you want to play on every single time you play a Twenty 20, but once every now and then is an exciting opportunity to learn and try and grow your skills,” Bracewell said.

He was asked multiple questions related to the pitch after New Zealand mustered 99-8, their lowest score against India, and the ninth time they failed to reach triple figures in T20 history.

The Black Caps found the rope just six times. India, having eked home with a ball to spare, hit just eight. The 50,000 fans didn’t get a single chance to get their hands on a maximum at a ground which won’t host any games during this year’s ODI World Cup.

So conducive to spin was the patchy surface, spinners bowled 17 of the 19.5 overs for the Black Caps, while Indian spinners bowled 13 of their 20.

New Zealand's Michael Bracewell, right, took 1-13 from 4 overs against India on Monday morning.

Bikas Das/AP

New Zealand’s Michael Bracewell, right, took 1-13 from 4 overs against India on Monday morning.

When Mitchell Santner is turning the ball square, you know it’s a spinner’s dream.

“We can’t complain. It’s exciting to try and figure out a way to play on these different wickets,” Bracewell said.

Having scored 14 with the bat, Bracewell himself benefited from the turning surface late Australian great Shane Warne would have been untouchable on, dismissing the ever dangerous Shubman Gill and finishing with the impressive figures of 1-13 from his four overs.

He very nearly had Suryakumar Yadav, the top-ranked batter in T20 cricket who scored an unbeaten 26, as well. Had a diving Jacob Duffy been able to haul in the chance Yadav top-edged when he had 11 runs to his name, this series might well have been New Zealand’s with Thursday’s match to play.

India's Hardik Pandya, left, and Suryakumar Yadav celebrate their six-wicket win over the Black Caps. New Zealand bowler Blair Tickner is also pictured.

Surjeet Yadav/AP

India’s Hardik Pandya, left, and Suryakumar Yadav celebrate their six-wicket win over the Black Caps. New Zealand bowler Blair Tickner is also pictured.

“If you play on a wicket like that all the time, or a wicket that’s flat all the time, you don’t get a true test of your skills. I think a variety of wickets around the world is a positive thing,” Bracewell said.

“I think both teams showed that the spinners bowled really well and made it really difficult to score. Not having a six scored in the game is probably a reflection of that. It was not an easy wicket to bat on, and it’s one of those games, a very exciting game, but probably a little bit different to the normal Twenty20 that we expect.”

So effective was spin, captain Santner turned to part-timers Glenn Phillips (0-17 from 4) and Mark Chapman (0-4 from 1) in addition to himself (0-20 from 4), Bracewell and Ish Sodhi (1-24 from 4).

New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner generated more turn than he typically would against India in Lucknow on Monday.

Surjeet Yadav/AP

New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner generated more turn than he typically would against India in Lucknow on Monday.

“I was trying to find them [spinners] from everywhere, I was going to ask Lockie [Ferguson] if he could bowl some off-spin….it was definitely something different,” Santner said.

However, with India needing 13 runs from the final 12 balls to knot up the series at 1-1 ahead of the third match in Ahmedabad on Thursday, he refrained from giving left-armer Chapman a second over and instead asked Ferguson and Blair Tickner to finish the job.

After India captain Hardik Pandya flicked a straying Ferguson delivery to the boundary, the equation became six from six, before Yadav slapped a short Tickner delivery over mid-off to get the hosts home.

Santner wasn’t asked by local broadcasters or journalists of his decision to opt for pace the final two overs, but said he felt the Black Caps were 15-20 runs light after opting to bat first.

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