India captain Sourav Ganguly said he expects the team to do better in panic situations and not capitulate as it did on Saturday before edging past New Zealand in the sixth one-day international in Auckland.

Chasing 200 in 49 overs, India were comfortably placed at 182 for four before they lost six wickets in the space of 17 runs to make a mess of a winning situation.

"We were cruising at 178 for three in the 40th over but in the end it got pretty close," Ganguly said after India snatched victory with one wicket and one ball to spare.

"It should have been a comfortable victory. But that's the way it goes," he said.

He denied having issued any instructions to the tailend batsmen.

"We needed just three runs an over. So I did not think of giving instructions. But we lost too many wickets and it became close in the end."

Ganguly said his boys gave away quite a few runs in the last three overs after they had the home side pinned down at 147 for nine.

"We should have restricted them to 160 but we gave too many runs in the last three overs," he said.

Buoyed by the two wins on the trot after a dismal show on the tour, he said, "It is good to win. We had a poor start to the series but we won important tosses as bowling first makes a difference on these pitches."

New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming said his team stood a very good chance when they reduced the visitors to 198 for nine.

"We had our opportunities in the end but we lost the game."