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'It’s about focusing on the things that are important, the roles that give us the best chance of success, and if we do that the result manifests.'
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said forgetting about results and getting the simple things right helped his side recover from the 3-0 drubbing by Australia to beat India, the world’s top ranked Test side, by 10 wickets on Monday.
New Zealand wrapped up the victory in the first Test before lunch on the fourth day at the Basin Reserve, ending India’s seven-match unbeaten run in the International Cricket Council’s World Test Championship.
“It’s just about stripping things back a little bit,” Williamson told reporters.
“You can get carried away thinking about results (especially) when you have a number of poor ones and sometimes the want for a good one can be a distraction to getting it.
“So it’s about focusing on the things that are important, the roles that give us the best chance of success, and if we do that the result manifests (itself).
“I think that’s what we saw in this game and that was what was pleasing.”
After Williamson won the toss and chose to field on a green Basin Reserve pitch his pace attack had to bowl well against a batting lineup that included arguably the strongest middle order in the game.
The hosts’ attack, led by man-of-the-match Tim Southee, dismissed India for 165 in the first innings.
New Zealand’s bowlers also put on a game-changing 123 runs for the final three wickets in their first innings after the visitors had dragged themselves back into the match by reducing them to 225-7.
“You never felt like you were ‘in,’” said Williamson, who scored 89 in New Zealand’s first innings of 348, of the wicket.
“In terms of previously coming to the Basin it would be a day and a half and then the wicket would become quite docile and very batter friendly but (this) was a good balance between bat and ball.
“The lower order partnerships were quite important.
“And obviously without those, having to chase something similar (a target of about 150) would have been really challenging.”
