Late starts, moisture making it difficult to defend totals: Jacob Duffy
toi
newspoint|05-11-2026
New Zealand pacer Jacob Duffy identified late match starts and evening moisture as significant factors behind the hosts’ repeated struggles to defend totals in the ongoing home series against India.
India took a 1-0 lead in the five-match ODI series at Eden Park , Auckland , bundling the Black Caps out for 185 before comfortably chasing down a rain-revised target of 143 in 32 overs on Wednesday. The defeat marked the fourth instance in five games across formats on this tour where New Zealand failed to defend a total after losing the toss and being inserted to bat.
With ODIs scheduled for 3 pm starts following the 8 pm T20I fixtures, Duffy noted how second-innings conditions make it easy for batting.
"Everyone wins the toss and bowls first for a reason," Duffy said. "I'm not saying it's impossible to defend, don't get me wrong. It's not like we're giving up as soon as we've lost a toss. But as soon as you get a little bit of moisture in the wicket — I thought tonight there was a bit of wind around and we actually might not get that moisture, but I guess the rain sort of adds that moisture that the dew would have otherwise.
"When it does skid on like that, it sort of takes away the tackiness and that sort of tennis-bally bounce we saw in their (India's) innings."
Duffy admitted 185 was "never going to be enough" at Eden Park, crediting India’s pace trio of Arshdeep Singh , Gurnoor Brar and Anshul Kamboj for extracting movement and steep bounce.
"They bowled really well. They've got some big boys in that bowling attack, and they used the bounce of the surface really well," Duffy said. "We probably just weren't at our best with the bat to start with, and then it's pretty tough to defend 180."
India took a 1-0 lead in the five-match ODI series at Eden Park , Auckland , bundling the Black Caps out for 185 before comfortably chasing down a rain-revised target of 143 in 32 overs on Wednesday. The defeat marked the fourth instance in five games across formats on this tour where New Zealand failed to defend a total after losing the toss and being inserted to bat.
With ODIs scheduled for 3 pm starts following the 8 pm T20I fixtures, Duffy noted how second-innings conditions make it easy for batting.
"Everyone wins the toss and bowls first for a reason," Duffy said. "I'm not saying it's impossible to defend, don't get me wrong. It's not like we're giving up as soon as we've lost a toss. But as soon as you get a little bit of moisture in the wicket — I thought tonight there was a bit of wind around and we actually might not get that moisture, but I guess the rain sort of adds that moisture that the dew would have otherwise.
"When it does skid on like that, it sort of takes away the tackiness and that sort of tennis-bally bounce we saw in their (India's) innings."
Duffy admitted 185 was "never going to be enough" at Eden Park, crediting India’s pace trio of Arshdeep Singh , Gurnoor Brar and Anshul Kamboj for extracting movement and steep bounce.
"They bowled really well. They've got some big boys in that bowling attack, and they used the bounce of the surface really well," Duffy said. "We probably just weren't at our best with the bat to start with, and then it's pretty tough to defend 180."
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