One positive to come out of the loss to India in the first ODI in Guwahati was the performance of Firebirds fast bowler Andy McKay.
The left-arm quick took career best figures of four for 62, including the prize scalps of Guatam Gambhir and Virat Kohli.
“It’s always nice to pick up wickets,” said McKay. “I was pleased to be able to put in a valuable contribution to the side and fulfil my role as a strike bowler.”
“That was one of the reasons I got picked to be a strike bowler and a wicket taker so it was pleasing to be able to pull through with that.”
Since the retirement of Shane Bond the BLACKCAPS have been searching for a bowler that offers genuine firepower to complement top ranked ODI bowlers Daniel Vettori (ranked 1) and Kyle Mills (ranked 5).
But despite consistently nudging 140km/h McKay wasn’t handed the new ball with the experienced duo of Mills and Daryl Tuffey preferred.
“I’ve opened the bowling on a couple of occasions but mostly been first change.
“It’s mostly what Dan’s (Vettori) experimenting with at the moment and what we are looking for in the future, possibly. I’m happy to take the new ball or bowl first change.
“I can get a little bit of swing into the right hander with the new ball. Dan mentioned I might get a chance with the new ball at some stage so it will be good to see what kind of movement I can get.” McKay explained.
When asked about his personal best Mckay said it was ‘bitter-sweet’ after the 40 run loss.
“Obviously I was happy with the four wickets but obviously very disappointed with the loss.
“We went in with high hopes, especially after the form we had through the Test series. We did draw a lot of confidence from that so coming into the one-day series, especially so close to the World Cup as well, it’s disappointing but there’s four more games to go so looking forward to that,” McKay said.
