Bangalore, Dec 6: Facing the challenge of avoiding a series whitewash, New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori today asked the top-order batsmen to respond to the tough situation as they face a rampaging India in the fourth ODI tomorrow.
New Zealand are down 0-3 and the Kiwi skipper said it's time that the players of his side wake up and perform.
"Each individual has to stand up and perform well. It is missing. We need couple of top order batsmen coming good in the next two matches. What we have to do tomorrow is to have to be clear in our minds and perform the roles that we need to do," Vettori said on the eve of the penultimate match of the series.
The Kiwi skipper blamed the flop show of batsmen for the embarrassing situation they have landed in.
"Reasons for the three-match drubbing is relatively simple and unfortunate. We failed to post enough runs on the board by trying different things. We did not put pressure on the Indian batsmen.
"In this part of the world you need to be harder with the ball and make it straight. It is number of things and we just trying to make improvements to give us a bit of performance," Vettori said.
The left-arm spinner though was full of praise for the host batsmen especially his counterpart Gautam Gambhir, who struck back-to-back centuries to lead India to series win.
"The Indian batsmen having been playing extremely well, particularly Gambhir. We got to find a way to stop him."
Vettori was hopeful that Brendon McCullam, who is still not comfortable with his back, would do the duty behind the wickets. PTI
