Perth: New Zealand coach Gary Stead on Sunday insisted that getting former Australian skipper Steve Smith out early in both the innings was a good thing despite facing a massive defeat at the hands of the Baggy Greens in Perth Test.
"Any time you get Steve Smith out for less than his average is probably a good thing but it's only one match and I know he was in the nets every day. He'll try and work out ways to combat what we do and we have to have other plans if that doesn't work for us," Stead was quoted saying by a leading cricket website.
Stead stressed that execution of plans is an imperative thing and is proud of the team.
"Having plans is one thing but you have to execute them over a long period and one thing I'm proud of is our guys stuck at plans we thought were right; with Steve, it worked in particular," he said.
Although Smith scored 43 and 16 in the first and second innings respectively, Australia managed to thrash New Zealand by 296 runs in the first Test on Sunday and took a 1-0 lead in the three-match Test series.
Neil Wagner had dismissed Smith in both the innings.
The second Test between Australia and New Zealand will begin on December 26.
