New Zealand's [Images] failure to find an answer to explosive opener Virender Sehwag [Images] has cost them the ongoing one-day series against India, hosts' skipper Daniel Vettori [Images] said on Wednesday.
"It was a good old fashioned hiding. There is no other word to explain it. We were pretty inept with the ball again. And we haven't found an answer to Sehwag and that is going to be the difference between the two sides," the New Zealand captain said after the blistering 75-ball 125 that Sehwag scored to guide India to a win in the fourth one-dayer.
"I think Sehwag played exceptionally well, though we bowled a little bit better than we had in the earlier games. But it wasn't good enough to compete against him.
"We were just not consistent enough and when you play on such small ground you have to be inch perfect," added Vettori.
Asked whether the current Indian batting line-up was the best he has bowled against, Vettori said, "It is a very impressive line-up. But it is tough to say that it is the best I have played against. The top four players are complimented by the rest of the team. They allow the other players to be aggressive."
"Sehwag is the key to all as he puts other teams off their game. The others guys can play around him. And when he is in form like this it becomes incredibly difficult to compete against him and so the key thing is to get his wicket," said Vettori.
Complete coverage: India in New Zealand 2009
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