India vs New Zealand 2019: 3 reasons why India lost the third T20I

We saw a terrific game of cricket as the T20I series decider went right down to the wire. The New Zealand bowlers eventually held their nerve and helped their team win the last game by a slender margin of four runs.

Rohit Sharma won the toss at Hamilton and decided to chase. New Zealand started off really well as their openers put up a fifty-run partnership. The platform was set and as a result, the Kiwis got to a huge total of 212-4.

Chasing 213, India lost the early wicket of Dhawan. However, Rohit and Vijay Shankar built an important partnership. The Men in Blue lost a few key wickets in the middle-overs but took the game to the last over where they required 16.

Time Southee, who bowled the last over, kept his nerve and defended well. New Zealand won the decider and the series with a margin of 2-1. India will be slightly disappointed that they couldn’t finish the tour on a win. However, they still had their moments in the T20I series.

Let’s have a look at the three reasons as to why India lost the final T20I and consequently the series as well.

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#3 The Kiwis got off to a flier with the bat

Rohit Sharma's captaincy skills were challenged by the New Zealand openers

The New Zealand openers got off to a great start just as they did in the first T20I at Wellington. Colin Munro made his intentions clear in the first over itself as he smashed a six off Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s bowling to get off the mark.

The Blackcaps didn’t lose a single wicket in the powerplay and scored 66 runs off the first six overs. Krunal Pandya, who bowled the last over of the powerplay, leaked 20 runs off it.

In T20 cricket, the opening bowlers have to get some early wickets which the Indian bowlers failed to do in this game. As a result, the New Zealand openers set up a perfect platform for a huge score. Munro and Tim Seifert had an opening partnership of 80 in quick time. The Kiwis got off to a flier and it played a major role in them winning the decider.

#2 Poor fielding cost India

Khaleel Ahmed dropped a straightforward catch

India’s bowlers once again conceded more than 200. When you have to chase such a big score, almost everything has to go in your favor. It didn’t happen in India’s case in this match.

It seemed as if the Indian bowlers didn’t bowl to their plans and they gave away runs at the start, in the middle overs and even in the death. The fielders didn’t support the bowlers as they missed a few boundaries and even dropped a couple of catches. You can’t afford to drop catches while playing against a quality side like New Zealand.

It was a matter of few runs and had India fielded better they might have ended the game as the winning side.

#1 New Zealand picked wickets at the right time

Mitchell Santner removed Shikhar Dhawan

The New Zealand bowlers deserve a lot of credit for this win. Even though they had runs on the board, the pitch was flat and the boundaries were short. So they had to bowl well to defend the total and they did exactly that. Their bowlers kept taking wickets just at the right moment for them and as a result, India wasn’t able to build the momentum.

Mitchell Santner took the early wicket of Dhawan which was a huge setback for India. He came back in his third over and took the wicket of Vijay Shankar who was looking dangerous at that time.

Then it was the turn of debutant Blair Tickner who picked up his maiden wicket in the form of Rishabh Pant. Daryl Mitchell came to the party when he took the wickets of Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni.

The wickets of Pant and Hardik Pandya came at the right moment for New Zealand as the two batsmen were hitting the ball really hard.