I haven't been at my best with the white-ball for a while: Tim Southee

New Zealand bounced back from the heavy 4-1 defeat in the ODI series by dismantling India in the first T20I of the three-match series. Apart from the toss, everything went New Zealand’s way as they inflicted an 80-run defeat on the high-flying visitors.  The architects of the win were opening batsman Tim Seifert and pace spearhead Tim Southee.

Asked to bat first, New Zealand were in desperate need of a good start. In the absence of their all-time leading T20I run-scorer Martin Guptill, the onus was on Seifert and Colin Munro and the duo delivered. They added 86 runs for the first wicket to lay the foundation for a big score. Seifert top-scored for the Kiwis, scoring 84 and fired them to a huge 219 for 6. In reply, India were all out for just 139 with Southee being the pick of the bowlers.

The right-arm pacer ended the game with highly impressive figures of 3 for 17. The performance was a stark reminder that Southee can still blow away the best of teams on his day. The outing also helped Southee underline his importance to the New Zealand side after he was surprisingly sidelined in the ODIs. Despite New Zealand struggling with the ball in most of the ODIs against India, the senior pacer played just one game.

So it’s just always about being involved in the game

Well, Southee has been really performing poorly in ODIs. Since the 2015 World Cup, he has managed to pick up just 48 wickets in 44 innings. By comparison, his fellow pacer Trent Boult has picked up a staggering 101 wickets in 51 innings. And after his heroics against India, Southee did admit that he had been not bowling well with the white-ball.

“A number of guys that needed game time and I know I haven’t been at my best with the white-ball for a while. It’s never nice missing out but just have to make the most of opportunities when you get them,” Southee was quoted as saying in Cricbuzz.

“There’s been times in the last year or so I’ve felt I’ve bowled extremely well at times and haven’t got wickets or supported [Trent] Boulty at the other end. So I guess you’re always looking at ways to get better, always looking at ways to try and improve as a cricketer. So it’s just always [about being] involved in the game and look in a different way so you can get better and looking back to when you were at your best and how you were operating then,” Southee added.

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