India vs New Zealand | Rohit Sharma looks at positives despite T20I series loss
Rohit Sharma has accepted that he was disappointed about his team being unable to cross the line in the series decider, but decided to look at the positives instead. Meanwhile, Kane Williamson credited India for playing brilliantly during the tour, especially in the ODIs where the hosts lost 1-4.
Despite starting off the limited-overs series against New Zealand by a thumping win in the first ODI itself, India didn't quite finish off the tour with a T20I series win, as the hosts clinched the decider by four runs after the visitors failed to chase a mammoth 213-run target. India did make a comeback in the game, with Krunal Pandya and Dinesh Karthik threatening to take the game away from New Zealand's grasp in the last few overs, but it didn't really materialize in the end. Rohit Sharma showed his disappointment for his side not being able to cross the line after showing a good comeback during the last few overs.
“Disappointing to not cross the line but we fought well right till the end. 210 odd was always going to be tough, but we were in it till the end, they held their nerve and kept hitting their yorkers. Lot of positives, we started well with the ODIs, wanted to do well here but the boys throughout the tour were excellent, put in a lot of hard work. They will b disappointed tonight but we've to learn from the mistakes we made from the tour and move ahead. Would've nice to fly back with a series win, but yes,
Interestingly, New Zealand won the first match of the T20I series quite convincingly and in a similar fashion of how India won the first three matches of the ODI series. After showing a good comeback in the second T20I, India failed to chase 16 runs off the remaining 6 deliveries in the third one, only to end their 10-series unbeaten streak in the shortest format.
“Brilliant game, great advertisements. Credit to India for a great series. The first performance was our best, there were learnings in the second game. Both teams put in strong performances tonight, we did slightly better,” Williamson said after the game.Â
“We travel-train-play and straight into the next series against Bangladesh, that's the nature of international cricket but the guys are looking forward to it,” he added.
New Zealand's flamboyant opening batsman Tim Seifert, who was adjudged as the Man of The Series due to scores of 84,12 & 43
"Great to have a performance like that this series,"Haven't seen a crowd in Hamilton like this in a long time. Enjoyed batting with Munro at the top of the order."
