This article was first published 15 years ago

What went wrong for India?

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February 25, 2009 17:37 IST

India were blown away in the opening match of their New Zealand tour on Wednesday. The World champions failed to live up to reputation and lost the first of two Twenty20 internationals on the tour by seven wickets, in Christchurch.

After Virender Sehwag smashed three sixes in the first over that garnered 19 runs, India's much-hyped batting flopped and it needed a dour knock of 61 from Suresh Raina that enabled them put up 162 for 8 in the allotted overs.

Understandably, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was quick to blame his batsmen for the defeat.

"We got off to a good start but we have to remember it's a 20-over game," he said.

"Nobody took the responsibility to stay there in the middle. It's a good learning for us, we just can't go through the motions."

New Zealand, powered by an unbeaten 56 from man of the match Brendon McCullam, made light of the target, winning with seven balls to spare.

What do you think went wrong? Was it the batting or bowling that failed to deliver? Was India short of a seamer in the match?

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