We don't get too far ahead of ourselves, says Tim Southee

Having surprised India in the second ODI, New Zealand pacer Tim Southee on 22 October said the strength of the side lies in the fact that they don't get "too far ahead of ourselves" nor "too down of ourselves" when the results are not going in their favour.

New Zealand shocked India by six runs in the second One-day International in New Delhi to register their first win of the tour.

"I think the strength of our side is that we don't get too far ahead of ourselves and we don't get too down of ourselves when the results don't go our way. We prepare the same way before every match and I don't think you can let what's happened in the game before influence the game you are preparing for," Southee said addressing a pre-match press conference ahead of third ODI at the PCA stadium in Mohali on 23 October.

He was asked if the narrow win would boost their confidence. From a New Zealand point of view, a victory was all they needed after a string of defeats.

Southee, who earned three scalps in the last tie and also impressed with the bat in Dharamsala, asserted, "Our preparation has been the same, we know it's a big match. We've got to get used to these conditions as quickly we can, which obviously are different than what they were in Delhi."

Asked if the poor form of their top batsman Ross Taylor was bothering the side, Southee said, "It's not an easy place (the sub-continent) to come in, had a difficult Test series, but Ross is a class batsman, he has shown that for a number of years. He is a quality player, he is not far away from, I guess a big score. He is still working hard at the nets."

Despite the Kiwis doing badly on the Indian tour, Southee said, "the team spirits are still high, it's been a long tour, but the guys are still happy and a great group of guys came in a couple of weeks ago and the environment has been good".

Again speaking about Taylor, he said, "Yeah, obviously, he's a bit disappointed, he is a senior player, he wants to obviously lead with some runs. We know there is a big score round the corner for him."

(PTI)