India trail New Zealand 0-1 in the three-match T20I series
Team India's stand-in captain Rohit Sharma accepted that India were outplayed in all three departments to a clinical New Zealand side in the first T20I of the three-match series in Wellington.
The hosts crushed the visitors by 80 runs at the Westpac Stadium to hand them their biggest ever defeat in T20 cricket on Wednesday and Rohit believes that losing wickets at regular intervals in such a steep chase cost India dearly.
"It was a tough game. We were outplayed in all three departments. We didn't start well and we knew that 200 wasn't going to be an easy chase although the grouds are small here. But we kept losing wickets and that threw us off.
"We have chased such targets in the past and that is why we played with eight batsmen, but we didn't have small partnerships and that made it tough while chasing such a big target," Rohit said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
"But New Zealand though played well, they had partnerships that allowed them to get such a big score. We need to go to Auckland, assess at the conditions and take it forward.
"As a team, we have been good at chasing down targets which is why we play with eight batsmen. We believe that whatever the target is in front of us we can chase it down, but we just couldn't do it tonight," he added.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson on the other hand, was a happy man and hailed his team's complete performance.
"Fantastic performance all around, everyone rose and it was one of those complete performances that you search for. But it has finished now, we move on in a day's time and we have another game," Williamson said.
"The top-order were superb and we built partnerships that helped us. Seifert, Munro were outstanding. We know it will be different in a couple of days time and we need to learn from our bits and pieces and move on. Some really good experiences for the boys, some of the short contributions are of great importance," he added in praise of man-of-the-match Tim Seifert and his opening partner Colin Munro.
Williamson also had good to say about his bowlers before walking off in the hope of continuing the dominance in the next game.
"Daryll [Mitchell] bowled really well and played a good cameo down the order. We had the runs on the board, but the bowling and fielding too was of high standard. A complete performance that doesn't happen everyday and hope we can keep the momentum through the series having set the tone," the 27-year-old said.
The next T20I will be played on Friday at Auckland.
