The last Test will define our season says BJ Watling

New Zealand lost the second Test in Wellington because of a lack of intent shown on the field by their unit. There was no hiding from it as the Kiwis gave away six wickets to a spinner on a seamer friendly track. Their wicketkeeper-batsman BJ Watling was well aware of the fact and admitted it.

Watling praised the South African bowlers as they were disciplined in their approach. No easy runs were given away to the Black Caps. The hosts were bowled out for 268 in the first innings and a modest 171 in the second marking a poor batting performance.

Watling acquiesced on this and said that they have to apply themselves and get through the tight spell. He said, “They bowled very well and put us under pressure and there were some testing spells. We’ve got to get through those spells and make sure we are not slacking at the other end.”

Watling also talked about building partnerships and not giving away their wickets. New Zealand lost their last five wickets for a mere 32 runs which meant that South Africa just needed 81 runs to win. He said that there were glimpses of good batting and good starts and they have got to convert those starts into big centuries.

“There’s been some glimpses of good batting and we’ve talked about those starts and we need to turn them to bigger scores to really put South Africa under pressure. We’ve got to be better as a unit, all the way down to 11. We’ve got to build partnerships and take these guys really deep. We saw in Dunedin, that we took them deep and they felt the pressure. We had them in positions we were pretty happy with,” Watling said while talking to ESPNcricinfo.

The New Zealand wicketkeeper talked about his love for batting and how hates to lose his wicket. He emphasized on the fact that it is not always about being aggressive sometimes you have got to respect the good deliveries.

He said, “I love batting and I hate getting out. You respect each delivery as well and the South Africans bowl a lot of good balls that you’ve got to respect and you’ve got to wait a bit longer to get the balls to put away.”

Watling sounded affirmative and said that their season won’t be defined by the last Test but it may be judged on the Test in Hamilton. “This is a very important game coming up for us. I don’t think we will judge our season on that last game. But we might on this one.”

He also believes that the last Test was not a disaster but some action needs to be taken on it. Everyone needs to up their game according to the Wicket-Keeper. “It’s not a calamity. There’s a lot of talk about the collapse and these things happen and we are obviously very disappointed but we’re not going to dwell on that,” said BJ Watling.