The Second Test match between Zimbabwe and New Zealand ended in an eight-wicket victory by the latter, but with fewer than four overs to spare, thanks to a superb Zimbabwean fightback by Guy Whittall (interviewed yesterday), Andy Flower and Heath Streak. Heath talk to John Ward at the conclusion of the match.
JW: Heath, well batted, but why do you always get out just after reaching your fifty?!
HS: (laughs) I don't know! I thought Cairns bowled very well with the new ball and unfortunately we couldn't hold on; another hour would have done the trick for us. If we had stayed until teatime we could probably have put the game into a reasonably safe position for us. But it was fine that the guys fought back from a position where two days ago looking at a draw was almost out of the question.
JW: Yes, there was a great fightback over the last day and a half. Can you put it down to anything in particular?
HS: We spoke about not going into our shells and the batters being positive, positive in defence as well as putting away the bad balls, keeping the pressure on and keep scoring, and I think we did it extremely well. I think Andy [Flower] and Guy [Whittall] were a perfect example of that, and then Guy and I managed to put together another partnership that kept the New Zealanders in the field for a substantial amount of time.
JW: How did you feel when you went in to bat yourself, and what was your game plan?
HS: Yesterday we had an hour to go, so obviously my first plan was to play myself in and then stick around and make it through to the evening, and be around for today.
JW: Can you assess the New Zealand bowlers and the tactics they used against you in this innings?
HS: They had a very good game plan and knew how they wanted to bowl to each of the batters. They came round the wicket, for example, to Andy Flower, because that's where they wanted to bowl. I thought they attacked well, and then went into a defensive mode, trying to build up pressure, which worked for them. But in our second innings I thought we counteracted it well; it's just a pity that they got through our tail pretty quickly in the last couple of games, and that's something we'll have to work on. With a couple of guys who have left in Goodwin and Johnson I think the tail is a little longer than it usually has been.
JW: And in the New Zealand innings, there was just a little too much time for us to put real pressure on them.
HS: Certainly, they did have a little too much time to get that score, and I think if we had been able to give them a little less time and about 20 more runs it would have been very interesting.