Indian skipper Shreyas Iyer was disappointed with India’s middle-order collapse, poor bowling and fielding efforts in India’s seven-wicket defeat to New Zealand in the fifth and final T20I at Seddon Park in Hamilton.
In the fifth T20I, India was tasked with batting first, and they posted a daunting total of 191/8 in 20 overs. Ishan Kishan (61), Shreyas Iyer (50), and Naman Dhir (33) were impressive with the willow. Adam Milne scalped a four-wicket haul.
In the second innings, New Zealand took only 18 overs to seal the deal with seven wickets in hand. Tim Seifert was the wrecker-in-chief, scoring 93 off 50 while Glenn Phillips amassed 65* off 38 to cross the winning line.
“It was plausible, honestly. We could have been better, considering the start we got in the middle overs, the way Ishan and I recreated the momentum. And then from there on, we lost back-to-back wickets, and then suddenly pressure on the new batsmen,” Iyer said after the game.
“It wasn’t an easy wicket to play on, especially when the ball was seeming and holding a bit, and also skidding through at times. You must have seen a couple of time, myself and Tilak we got out in a similar fashion. It was challenging, especially of that hard length, but to get to 194, it was reasonable, I feel,” he added.
“I think we still could have been better with our bowling and fielding. We were a bit sloppy, but great learning. I think coming overseas, coming to New Zealand, getting to play on such different occasions, different grounds, great learning curve,” he observed.
“Absolutely, I think the first three games absolutely studied the rhythm for us. And then coming in the last two games, I feel we were in this position where we wanted to experiment and also challenge ourselves a bit more. And today was the right opportunity, and obviously we didn’t live up to it, but great learning, as I mentioned,” he concluded.
With India sealing the five-game T20I series 3–2, the action now moves to the five-game ODI series, commencing on Wednesday, November 4 at Eden Park in Auckland.
