1st Test: Kane Williamson banks on WT20 experience to upset India

Kanpur, Sep 21: With spin expected to have an impact on the outcome of the opening Test starting here tomorrow (September 22), New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is hoping that the lessons learnt during the World Twenty20 in India will help his side's spinners counter the hosts.

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New Zealand had reached the semi-finals of World T20 and Mitchel Santner (4/11 in 4 overs) had recorded the best figures for a Kiwi spinner in Twenty20s en route to their knock out stage appearance.

Those figures had come for a winning cause against India in Nagpur and he was well supported by Ish Sodhi, who took three wickets in that match.

These two spinners - Santner and Sodhi - will challenge the Indian batting line-up in this Test series.

Asked if Kiwi spinners can match that of India's, Williamson said he was quite optimistic. "They (India) have got very good spinners, naturally very experienced in these conditions. We have some exciting young talent. We showed that in the T20 World Cup. That was huge for us. Yes, the formats are different, but I am hoping we can build on from those experiences," Williamson said ahead of tomorrow's first Test.

"A lot of learning experiences to be had. Certainly this is one of them, being exposed in these conditions. They are suited to spin bowling so we are hoping they can play a big part in the series."

Williamson did not make a big issue of having just one practice game under their belt in the build up to the series but said if Kotla track had offered more spin, it would have been better for them.

"The wicket in the warm-up game was still slow, and it did deteriorate a little bit. So, there was some good practice there. Perhaps it would have been nicer if it had spun a little bit more. At the same time a lot of positives came out of it and practice wickets were good yesterday once the grass was shaved off," he said.

"All the preparation you can get is important. The nature of the international cricket is such that you go from one tour to another and you cannot get everything perfect but we have come at the back of some cricket which is important. We have had a week in Delhi to prepare as well and the guys are looking forward to the cricket."

PTI