Ranchi: New Zealand beat India by 19 runs to win the fourth ODI played at Ranchi on Wednesday. With this win it also leveled the five-match series by 2-2 . Blaming it on the batsmen for losing their wicket at regular intervals, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said that they could have chased the target of 360 if they had wickets in hand.
"I think it was the first 10 overs where we gave away a lot of runs and the extras. I think we could have still chased 260 if we had wickets in hand. It was quite similar to Delhi where we kept losing wickets. The wicket was best to bat on in the afternoon and it kept getting slower and slower. The new ball under lights still came on but as it got older it became difficult,” said the skipper, adding that the Nos 5 and 6 are quite new and they would learn their own way.
“Some will play big shots, some will take it deep. Once they have played 15-20 games, they will figure out what works for them. Cricket has changed, people like to play big shots. It is important to not tell them to stop playing the shots; you don't want them to go into their shells. They played their shots when the ball was in their area. They will learn after they have played 15-20 games. Usually there is dew at this time of the year, and in Indian cricket the moment you talk about dew you want to bowl first. We will have to be at our best in the decider,” Dhoni added.
Meanwhile, Kane Williamson said that he absolutely happy and proud. “What we wanted was build partnerships. It was not an easy surface. Although you always want more, 260 was not a bad effort on that surface. Coming here, we had to decide between dew that may or may not come in versus the deterioration. The dew didn't come in, so that perhaps worked in our favour. It was tough decisions to drop Anderson and Ronchi. We have played on different surfaces so that affects selection. Also it has been a long tour. It's exciting to go 2-2; India is a great side, it is exciting to go level into the final match,” said Williamson.
"It certainly is a great feeling," said Martin Guptill, who was Man of the Match. "To put up a performance myself and give the team a defendable total is satisfying. We thought we could have got more but it was a defendable total. It came down to our bowlers to do the job, and they did. Virat Is a class player and to get him early was a big step,” he said.
