He said, “It was not really an ideal day for us. We got ourselves into situations where, if we had taken another wicket or two, we could have been chasing 100 or 150. Obviously, it was a disappointing result in the end but we have still got three days to grind it out here. The pitch is definitely looking a lot better to bat on.”
He also praised the Indian batsmen by saying, “Credit must go to their batsmen. (Shikhar) Dhawan obviously played really well at the top and got them off to a good start and (Ajinkya) Rahane’s hundred was pretty good. He played very well. Then, (MS) Dhoni’s counter-attack hurt us and that partnership was probably the difference between an okay day and a good day for them. If we had taken a wicket there, we could have been right in the hunt.”
He added: “The wicket has definitely improved. On day one, it was pretty green and doing a bit. Today, there was still enough in it for the bowlers but it has browned off and looks a pretty decent batting track now. We are looking forward to getting out there and taking on the challenge and trying to bat for a long time as a group.”
Watling concluded by downplaying the threat posed by the Basin Reserve wicket: “Sharma is bowling really well, so is Shami and Zaheer is an experienced bowler. He will hit some good areas too, so we got to soak it up in the morning for an hour and then bat for a long time. But I don’t think there are too many demons in the wicket at the moment, and it should be at its best tomorrow.”
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