Captains Reactions After the 4th Match in ongoing INDIA vs NEW ZEALAND SERIES
New Zealand Beat India in 4th ODI to clinch series 3-0 with one more to go.
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.
Furious MS Dhoni urges Indian pacers to 'use their heads'
The only consistency shown by Indian pacers
was in bowling short and wide against New Zealand - a weakness MS Dhoni
feels cost his side heavily against New Zealand.
Hamilton:
A dejected India captain Mahendra
Singh Dhoni on Tuesday, held the poor performance of his pacers
responsible for the visitors' humiliating 0-3 ODI series loss against New Zealand.
Trailing
0-2, India lost the fourth ODI by seven wickets against New Zealand
here on Tuesday to slump to their second consecutive series defeat
overseas.
"Frankly,
our bowling was quite disappointing. This was a kind of wicket where
one thing you don't want to do is to bowl short and wide. I think we
consistently did that with the new ball and the older ball. We often
complain about the five fielders outside the circle, but when you bowl
short and wide it doesn't matter. I think the fast bowlers gave away too
many runs. Talking about spinners, they bowled well and hit the right
areas," Dhoni said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Chasing
279 for victory, New Zealand reached 280 for three in 48.1 overs with
Ross Taylor hitting a match-winning 127-ball unbeaten 112 to take the
hosts home with 11 balls to spare and take an unassailable 3-0 lead in
the five-match rubber.
This was India's second consecutive series defeat on the foreign soil after the South African tour.
Dhoni said lack of partnerships did them in as they lost wickets at "wrong time".
"We
struggled at the top. I think the last game we got some kind of start
going but this time game again we struggled. Once 10 overs are gone, we
lost couple of wickets.
"We have to get some kind of partnership
going, we did get some kind of partnership going late in the day but we
lost wickets at the wrong time which means it puts pressure on the
middle-order and that frustrates you because then you fail to get those
extra 15-20 runs for par plus score," he said.
The skipper praised the New Zealand bowlers for hitting the right areas and not allowing the Indian batsmen free their arms.
"I
think they bowled well. They put pressure on our batsmen to play those
big shots and at times it did not pay. In the end, we were left doing
the catching up job," Dhoni said.
Dhoni asked his batsmen to take up more responsibility and do well in the fifth and final match of the series in Wellington.
"We'll
take it one game at a time. We have not done well in the series
especially the batsmen. Most of our batsmen have got starts but they
were not able to push on. It's important that people who get start they
keep on building it. But that has not been the case in the series. Most
of our batsmen got starts, but they were not able to hang on to it."
After
wrapping up the series 3-0 in their favour, a visibly satisfied New
Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum expressed happiness over his team's
performance, saying: "you don't blank the No.1 team too often".
"The
conditions were tough tonight. Conditions suited India more than us and
we lost the toss and gave them far too many runs in the end. We are
going to enjoy this one and you don't blank the No.1 team too often and
we will look to do that," McCullum said.
McCullum praised Ross Taylor and pacer Kyle Mills for setting up the comfortable win with their fine performances.
"We
knew someone had to bat well and get a big hundred and Rosco (Taylor)
did that. Mills is outstanding, it was good to give someone else an
opportunity on a horses for courses thing on a quicker wicket. The
blueprint of the batting shouldn't change. It was great that Rosco got a
match-winning hundred and we're very happy," he said.
Man-of-the-match Taylor said he was happy to deliver the match-winning knock for his team in a crunch game.
"It
was nice to go out there and put that hard work in nets and throw-downs
to good use. I've been known as a bottom hand player and it was good to
show this side of my game too," he said.
