ICC World Cup 2015: MS Dhoni all praise as bowlers hit the right pitch

Wisden India

After a second comprehensive victory in as many games against strong opposition, Mahendra Singh Dhoni had good reason to reflect on another job well done as the defending champions closed in on a quarterfinal win at the 2015 World Cup.

“The kind of wins that we have had in the last two games, it's tough to get, so definitely both the games were important for us,“ said Dhoni after the game.“After last game, I said it was a complete batting performance, but this game also I felt we did really well with the batting. Getting 300 runs was fantastic. It was definitely a par-plus score on this wicket, and when we turned up with the ball, we bowled in the right areas and we made it tough for the opposition to score.“

India were brilliant with the new ball, conceding just three boundaries in the first 10 overs while accounting for Quinton de Kock, who had made three hundreds against them on the trot in December 2013, and Hashim Amla.

“Definitely it was a fantastic performance. Maybe the wicket also helped us a bit, but still, hitting the right areas and the lengths according to how the wicket is behaving is crucial. I felt that was the main aspect where we were really good.They (the bowlers) quickly assessed what was the right length to bowl, and they didn't give too much room. When it was swinging, they made sure they bowled tight length, and at the same time, when it stopped swinging, still they were bowling close to the batsmen.They never gave any extra width to the batsmen. Most of their batsmen love that extra width right from the top order. It was important that we don't give them that width. In the first ten overs, this was definitely one of our best performances in the recent past.“

The fielding also delighted India's captain. “What we know is we can add a minimum of 10 to 15 runs to whatever we score (with the fielding),“ observed Dhoni. “If you score 280 runs, which is a par score, we know with our fielding we can add another 15 runs. We have got some excellent fielders; we have got fast bowlers who are above average fielders.Overall, I've got plenty to play with.“

Shikhar Dhawan continued his recent good form after a poor Test and tri-series by bringing up his seventh ODI century.“He batted really well,“ said Dhoni.