Virat Kohli laments less batsmen chipping in against New Zealand

Kohli’s 121-run knock was rendered useless by New Zealand as the Kiwis chased the 280-run target quite easily, winning the game by six wickets. The Indian skipper admitted that India were around 40 runs short owing to the lack of contribution from other batsmen. Apart from Kohli, no batsman was up to the mark with Dinesh Kartik being the only one to cross the 30-run mark. India were reduced to 71-3 in the sixteenth over and New Zealand hardly allowed a partnership to blossom throughout the game. However, with the dew factor coming in at the closing stages of the first innings, India should have added more runs.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony, Kohli said, “Putting dew into perspective, in the last 13-14 overs, we were 20-30 runs short. But in the first half of the day, the wicket was playing very differently. We would have liked a better batting performance, if a couple more guys had chipped in, batting a few more overs, we could have had 40 runs extra."

However, it doesn’t take away from the fact that New Zealand were clinical in their approach and had a plan for every move India that had to offer. Kohli heaped praise on Ross Taylor and Tom Latham for their ability to control the game and hardly giving India a chance to get back into the game.

"We thought 275 (280) was a good total. But Ross and Tom were fantastic. They did not give us any chances, apart from a run-out here or there. And when you get a 200-run partnership, you deserve to win," said Kohli.

India’s wrist spinning duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, who had been instrumental in Australia’s demolition in the ODI series looked ineffective on Sunday. Latham, who scored an unbeaten 103 and Ross Taylor, who contributed a well made 95, looked very much at ease against them.

“New Zealand tackled our spinners really well, handled the fast bowlers too. Credit to Tom and Ross - Tom especially as Ross has been around for a while. He's (Latham) not played as many international games but he played superbly," Kohli concluded.