Daryl Mitchell Compares Wellington Pitch To A Trampoline After New Zealand Collapse

New Zealand batter Daryl Mitchell described the Wellington pitch as a difficult surface to bat on after the hosts were bowled out for 134 in the second ODI against India on Saturday, saying the uneven bounce and lack of opportunities to rotate the strike made conditions extremely challenging. Mitchell, who top-scored with 55 off 104 balls, said the bounce varied considerably throughout the innings, making it difficult for batters to judge how the ball would come onto the bat. While New Zealand managed to post a total, he admitted the side had hoped for a bigger score. "It's pretty challenging out there. Obviously, we'd always like a few more, but yeah, it's like batting on a trampoline at times. We weren't quite sure what height the ball was going to come through at. We scraped. We tried to do all we could and hopefully something special with the ball and you never know," Mitchell told broadcasters after New Zealand were bowled out.

He also highlighted the difficulty of finding gaps and rotating the strike, explaining that the nature of the drop-in pitch made quick singles hard to come by.

"All of us found it really hard to rotate the strike as well. Especially with it being a drop-in wicket and no pitches either side, it's really hard to drop and run because the ball just stops. When you add that to the variable bounce, sometimes the only option is to back yourself and see what happens," he added.

Despite the challenging conditions, Mitchell said he tried to stick to his strengths and assess the plans of the Indian bowlers. However, New Zealand struggled to build substantial partnerships, losing wickets whenever they appeared to be regaining momentum.

"I was just trying to stick to my strengths and get a read on what they were trying to do. Once I understood that, I tried to maximise my scoring opportunities. But we also wanted to build partnerships, and that was probably the biggest challenge. Every time we felt like we had one going, we lost a wicket," he said.

New Zealand's best partnership came through Mitchell and captain Mitchell Santner, who added 59 runs for the sixth wicket after the hosts had slumped to 53/5.

Mitchell's resistance helped New Zealand reach 134, but he acknowledged that the total was below what the side would have liked to defend.

Looking ahead to the second innings, the all-rounder said New Zealand's hopes would rest on making early breakthroughs and putting pressure on India's middle order.

"There's still plenty to play for. Obviously, we don't have the run-rate pressure we'd have liked on the board, but if we can get a couple of early wickets and expose the middle order, you never know what can happen," he said.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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