NEW ZEALAND WEST INDIES TOUR, 2020
Kyle Jamieson, in his short four-round career, has been particularly impressive with 20 wickets at an average of 14.55. © AFP
As New Zealand closed out a comfortable 2-0 sweep series over the West Indies, backup captain Tom Latham praised the bowlers. The West Indies were made to follow in both Tests, as the hosts sealed victories by one inning and 134 runs at Hamilton and then by one inning and 12 runs at Wellington.
Kyle Jamieson, in his short four-round career, has been particularly impressive with 20 wickets at an average of 14.55. After four wickets in the first round and half a century, the pacemaker pocketed his second round of five wickets in the second round to put the visitors on the mat once more. “In his short career thus far, he’s come in and he’s been successful right away. He’s a guy who’s always willing to learn, always willing to take over the brains of the other guys, which is great,” Latham said of the pacemaker. That applies to all bowlers, they are always ready to play, against the wind, against the wind. From my point of view, it made my job pretty easy.
“When he can do it with both the bat and the ball, it’s great for our side. He has done it with the ball and then the performance with the bat in the first test was outstanding. The performances are excellent for our scores and I’m sure too. He will continue to work hard on that aspect of his game. ”
New Zealand had to pass the second test without Kane Williamson as the usual pattern was on paternity leave. Henry Nicholls scored his career-high 174 to bring New Zealand to 460 before the players took over. Latham, understandably, was pleased with the way the hitters were able to fight the tough conditions. “Clinic is the word to use again,” he noted. “Hitting the bat and putting 460 on the board was outstanding. Under these conditions, putting a scoreboard like that was great and then we were able to get the job done with the ball. Putting a team back in twice (to keep going) wasn’t going to be easy with the demand on the body of the bowlers, but they kept coming and did the job with the ball.
“Whoever makes the team, we hope they do their part to the best of their ability. This game was about trying to stand up and put on a performance and it’s good that we could do it without Kane. The way Young played the first day. , getting 40 odd under those conditions was exceptional. The way he was able to get a partnership with Henry was great. It’s great for our team that we have the depth that the guys can come in and act right away. ”
With another series win on the bag, New Zealand now sits third in the World Test Championship points table behind Australia and India. They continue to put pressure on India for a place in the final and a series win against Pakistan will give them a good boost. Latham, however, is not ready to look to the future. “When you look too far ahead, sometimes you can get caught. Our focus will shift to Pakistan and whatever happens we will evaluate it,” he said. “The objective at the beginning of the test championship was to reach that final, and if we play well we give ourselves a chance and it could be a possibility.
“In our conditions, we certainly know how to play in these conditions, which is great. Regardless of which team we face, we are certainly willing to learn from past performances. We look forward to Pakistan in a week’s time, a new rival, different challenges, so it is important to adapt. For the moment, we will enjoy this victory and then we will change [focus] to Pakistan. I think the beauty of this group is that we focus on each game at a time, each series at a time. ”
© Cricbuzz
