Mumbai: New Zealand stretched India a bit on their last tour here in 2016 and they will be hoping to do better as the three-match ODI series get underway at Wankhede stadium on Sunday. New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson conceded that it would be a huge task. “We know that, at home in particular, they are the strongest team in the world.
There are no illusions that we need to come out and play our best cricket. We saw in the last series here that we were 2-2 going into the decider which was a fairly good effort although we knew that perhaps we hadn’t played our best and it was a shame in that last game,” he said.
Kiwis lost that series 2-3 after Amit Mishra bagged a five-for to bowl them out for
paltry 79 in Visakhapatnam. Williamson, who took over the captaincy after Brendon McCullum’s retirement last year, was satisfied that his team adjusted well last time here. “We did that (adjusted to conditions) fairly well last time we were here and It will be nice to come out in this series and, do a little bit better.”
It will be the first ODI for New Zealand against hosts India at this venue though they played couple of Tests here long back. Kiwis played Canada during the ICC 2011 World Cup here.
“The guys have played IPL games here, it is a nice stadium and so it is
nice to get the series underway here at the Wankhede. Generally, wickets here at Wankhede are good surfaces and will expect something similar,” New Zealand skipper said.
