Wellington: Their morale dented after losing the series, India would be desperate to salvage some lost pride by notching their maiden win on the tour when they take on a sprightly New Zealand in the fifth and final cricket one-dayer here tomorrow.
The Men in Blue have lost much in the past two weeks, in lieu of a 3-0 series loss as also the climb-down from their number one ODI ranking.
The visitors lost the first ODI in Napier by 24 runs, then went down in Hamilton by 15 runs, tied the third ODI in Auckland, but lost the fourth in Hamilton by seven wickets to squander the series.
At the Westpac Stadium tomorrow then, they will be playing for more than just pride.
A consolation win will mean that the series will end at 3-1 rather than 4-0, the latter a very embarrassing score-line if it indeed comes to pass.
Even so, victory will only restore so much respectability for the reigning world champions, considering how awfully wrong things have gone for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his team ever since they stepped out of home in early December.
