Hamilton: New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum says beating World Champions India in a One-day series was "hell of an achievement" and acknowledged crucial
contributions with the bat by Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson in their "emphatic" victory.New Zealand today hammered India by seven wickets to take a 3-0 lead in the five-match series, with only one game left to play at Wellington on January 31.
"This is a big moment for us. We are obviously proud with what we achieved in South Africa and England in those one-day series. But this series, they were the number one ODI team in the world when they arrived here and we knew how dominant their batting line-up. To have tipped them up and be sitting after the fourth game at 3-0 is a pretty good achievement for us," McCullum said at the press conference.
The host now target to win the last match as well.
"The last game is also very important and that 4-0 is what we want to strive for. But we won't let this opportunity to really enjoy what we have achieved pass us by either. I think it's a hell of an achievement what we have done tonight.
"We will worry about the next couple of days, tomorrow morning when we wake up. But we are obviously delighted at the moment and we should have another couple of guys who are fresh and ready to go in the next game as well," McCullum said.
"To beat a very, very good Indian team, especially in these conditions which I thought were more favourable to them, it was an emphatic win. We closed out the series which we have been talking about all through the summer, so we are really pleased with the effort tonight.
McCullum said the key to their win was execution of their batting plans.
"We continued the blueprint that we have shown with the bat built around Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson as seen in the last few games, and to execute that again tonight and get the rewards for it is incredibly satisfying. The boys are very, very happy at the moment," said McCullum.
