Vettori shrugs off throwing away Test 100
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New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori was philosophical about his brain snap which cost him his first Test century against Australia at the Gabba on Friday.
The veteran all-rounder, playing in his 107th Test match, was just four runs away from his seventh Test hundred when he inexplicably set off for a quick run.
Unfortunately for Vettori — playing on the second day of the first Test against Australia — Mike Hussey swooped in from mid-off and run him out with a direct throw at the bowler's end.
"I wasn't (feeling) too bad. When you play for a long time you realise the ups and downs of the game and to have 96 on the board you're pretty proud of that effort," he said.
Vettori lay prone in disappointment as he sprawled to make his ground and ending his three hour knock laced with 10 boundaries.
"Four more runs and you're always disappointed to get out in that manner but it was more about the batting getting easier and to be dismissed in that manner was pretty disappointing," he said.
"Dean (Brownlie) and I could have batted for a long time, that's simply the game, you have to deal with it and get on with it.
"It took a direct hit, if it wasn't been a direct hit I would have been in and he's a very good fielder, I picked the wrong guy."
Vettori put on a Gabba record sixth-wicket stand for New Zealand of 158 runs with Brownlie, eclipsing the previous best of 95 between Nathan Astle and Chris Cairns at the ground in 2001.
Australian-born Brownlie batted for 249 minutes and faced 175 balls for his unbeaten 77.
Vettori credited his batting resurgence to being more positive and aggressive and trusting his technique.
"I was embarrassed with my (batting) statistics, I thought I was a better player than that," he said.
"I was a little bit loose and a bit nervous when I went out to bat and I tried to turn those things around, tighten up my technique and be a lot more positive when I went out to the middle.
"It's allowed my game to flourish and I have been aggressive and hopefully I now put teams on the back foot.
"All the good players at seven, eight and nine have been aggressive and they try to take the game away from you and I suppose I've tried to model myself on that."
Vettori said he sought some tips from former Black Caps skipper Stephen Fleming.
"I think I've still done it my own way because there's not many people with my technique so I've stuck with my technique and haven't changed too much and it's allowed me to walk out to the middle feeling good about myself and it's come from there."
Vettori said the Black Caps were feeling good about themselves with a 141-run lead over the Australians who have seven wickets left heading into Saturday's third day.
"I don't think anyone really gave us a chance of scoring almost 300 in those conditions and all the talk and all the history of the wicket indicates that's a good score," he said.
"But we do need to back it up with the ball tomorrow and that first session will be the key and not let the game get away from us."
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