We fired a shot first up against India in both games, says New Zealand skipper Tom Latham after series win | Cricket News

New Zealand captain Tom Latham believes the trick behind the Black Caps winning their first-ever Test series in India was firing a shot first at the home team.
“We’ve played a style where we’ve fired a shot at India and we’ve been on the right side of a couple of tosses as well, that has been really important,” Latham told the media after New Zealand’s win in the second Test on Saturday. “The bowlers went to work over the last couple of days which has been very pleasing to see.”
With a win on Saturday, the Kiwis take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, marking the first time India have a lost a home Test series in 12 years.
Latham furthermore emphasized the importance of being on the right side of the toss and making the most of the conditions across the two games. “We’ve been on the right side of a couple of tosses. I think that (in second Test) was the first toss that I’ve won or been part of, since being here so that played a big part, especially in Bangalore,” he said.
Having won the toss and opted to bat first, New Zealand restricted India for a mere 156 runs in response to their total of 259 in the first innings. Carrying a 103-run lead, the Kiwis put together 255 runs in the second innings and were able to restrict India for 245 on Day 3.
Mitchell Santner finished with 13 wickets across the Test match.
“Mitch has been at Chennai (Super Kings) for a long time, (he is) someone who been in our group for a long time, has played a reasonable amount of Test cricket and we know how good he is,” Latham said.
“We know what he can produce and for him to come here and bowl the way that he’s bowled over the last couple of days, the group is really proud of him,” he added.
Going into the final Test match in Mumbai starting next week, the New Zealand skipper said he expects India to be at their best to close the series on a high note.

“They’ve got many match winners from 1 to 15 in their squad and sometimes it’s the game we play, sometimes you can fall on the wrong side even if you play well. We’ll certainly expect them to be at their best in Mumbai and the guys will be looking forward to that challenge,” he said.