New Zealand head coach Rob Walter says his team let India off the hook in both T20Is in Christchurch, after strong positions slipped away each time, ESPNcricinfo reported. India lead the five-match series 2-0.
"In T20 cricket, it's the finest of margins as we know. Both games, we could easily have been on the winning side of it, but weren't," Walter said on arriving in Wellington on Sunday for the third T20I.
"I felt we've played pretty well in probably 80% of each game. We just haven't been able to put the finishing touches on it each time," he said, adding that New Zealand had played little competitive cricket since an ODI series in the West Indies in July.
The chances that got away
In the first T20I, New Zealand dropped Axar Patel on 13, and he made 24, and Shreyas Iyer on 27, and he made 42. India chased down 226 with four wickets and two balls to spare.
In the second, four Indian batters were let off:
- Jacob Duffy dismissed Abhishek Sharma off a no-ball in the second over.
- Mitchell Santner dropped Sanju Samson on the boundary.
- Bevon Jacobs put down Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, and later dropped Naman Dhir in the 13th over.
New Zealand could not defend 180 after failing to defend 225 in the first game. Captain Santner said "a couple of dropped catches and misfields" decided the result. Walter said the pitch had changed a little and both bowling attacks had improved on the second night.
Fast bowlers rotated
Walter said New Zealand were resting fast bowlers to manage workloads before five ODIs and two Tests, because "playing back-to-back T20 games is not the way" to prepare for longer formats.
Matt Henry misses all three remaining T20Is, Lockie Ferguson sits out the third, and Kyle Jamieson and Matt Fisher are available only for the third. Adam Milne, Blair Tickner, Jacob Duffy and Nathan Smith are available for all three. "It's not a perfect science," Walter said.