Gurnoor Brar fires amid heavy downpour as India edge past New Zealand in second ODI

Wellington: Young Indian pacer Gurnoor Brar became the talk of the town with his performance against New Zealand, helping India secure a narrow four-run victory based on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method. The bowler ran riot on a wet pitch here on Saturday, with the extra bounce and pace on offer helping him exploit the conditions.

"I really enjoyed it. Bowling here in New Zealand, the bounce and the pace really helped me, so I enjoyed it," said Brar, who has impressed with his pace and ability to extract bounce.

Brar’s four-wicket haul was instrumental in restricting New Zealand to a meagre 134. His ten-over spell included two maidens, while giving away only 30 runs to bag four wickets. The pacer said the extra bounce in New Zealand allowed him to stick to his natural strengths rather than rely on the hard lengths required on relatively flatter Indian pitches. "Obviously, in India the pitches are quite flat, so we have to bowl that hard length. But here, there's that extra bounce. So I was just bowling to my strengths, and it worked," he said.

Brar played a key role in India's win over the hosts in a rain-affected match, yet the visitors had to work hard before securing a victory. The pacer believes aggression is important for a fast bowler, but knowing one's limitations was equally crucial. “If you're a fast bowler bowling at an average of 140 or 142, you have to be aggressive as well. But you have to know your limits too. I just enjoy it and keep bowling," he said.

The youngster relished using the bounce with variations in Wellington. "I just try to bowl that hard length, the lengths where batters try to pull. I don't want to bowl it very high; I just keep bowling at shoulder level," he added.

Indian skipper Shubman Gill was impressed with Brar's magical display, saying the young pacer had the necessary attributes to succeed at the highest level but needed more experience to develop consistency. "In the last match, Gurnoor bowled really well too. As he gets more experience, he'll get more consistent. He already has the pace and bounce," said Gill.

The third ODI of the series will be played at Hamilton on November 10.
(With PTI inputs).

Brief scores:

New Zealand: 134 all out in 41 overs (Daryl Mitchell 55; Gurnoor Brar 4/30).

India: 113/7 in 26 overs (Shreyas Iyer 30; Kyle Jamieson 3/35, Jacob Duffy 3/35).