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International Domestic

Bracewell lauds Mumbai’s batting effort

Mumbai dominated the second day’s play of the three-day warm-up match against New Zealand as they posted 431 runs for the loss of four wickets at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium. While Suryakumar Yadav scored a breezy century, Kaustubh Pawar played a patient knock. While the two scored centuries, young Armaan Jaffer set the tone with a well compiled 69.

Speaking about his wards’ display against a national side, Mumbai XI coach Chandrakant Pandit said, “It is an important game for us. Of course we have a long season ahead as well and we are preparing for it. It is a good thing if they are playing well against the international players and I hope the Indian team will be happy that the New Zealand bowlers were tested against us.”

New Zealand’s Doug Bracewell, too appreciated the Mumbai batsmen’s display. “They played pretty well. We spoke about being patient and playing the long game out there. To be fair, they put us under a bit of pressure and played pretty well. Credit to them. We look at the positives and we got another day tomorrow as well,” the bowler said.

Speaking about young Jaffer who slammed Trent Boult for a boundary to get going in the morning, the coach said, “He has been scoring runs and last year he played Under 19. He has done extremely well. It is definitely a very happy moment for us. The way he started against an international team that shows his tremendous temperament. And it shows the hunger to score big runs.”

The coach also lauded Suryakumar Yadav’s quick-fire knock and Siddhesh Lad’s fireworks towards the end while also appreciating Pawar’s patient century before retiring.

While Mumbai batsmen enjoyed the run fest, New Zealand bowlers struggled to curb the flow of runs. Speaking about the conditions and their bowling, Bracewell said, “The surface did not break up and turn that much. We are not really concerned at this stage. Like I said they played well. I definitely think our guys will take some learning out from today.

Reflecting on the day’s play, the New Zealand bowler added, “You still get a lot out of warm-up games. The batters getting time in the middle, bowlers getting though their workloads. It is great, especially when there is a short turnaround for the first Test.”
Speaking about their plans heading into the final day, Pandit said, “We would think about (declaring) because ultimately we think about getting them out (as well). We definitely have a plan to do something in the morning.”