'There was a huge difference between the wickets…': Shreyas Iyer

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In the fourth ODI match against New Zealand, Team India suffered a loss by 244 runs at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui.

Batting first, the hosts posted a total of 333 runs in 50 overs. Later in the second essay of the game, cricket fans witnessed Team India’s batting debacle. The “Men in Blue” were bowled out for 89 runs in 26.4 overs.

Following the loss, Team India’s stand-in ODI skipper Shreyas Iyer said there was a difference in the wicket after the first innings. He also heaped praise on New Zealand’s pacer Matt Henry, who claimed six wickets.

“A tough one, I guess, to take that. There was a huge difference between the wickets between innings,” he said.

“But also credit where it’s due, the way Henry bowled in the right areas right from ball one. I think that was sensational. We tried almost everything in the first innings, the way they were playing on the rise. And we thought that the wicket was better to bat on considering they got 330 after that. Obviously a couple of dropped catches, but that definitely happens in a game,” Iyer added.

The skipper then said that the ball swing also made it difficult for the batsmen to score runs in the second innings. However, Iyer urged his teammates to forget about the loss in the fourth match and draw inspiration from the victories in the first two ODIs.

“But yeah, when we got into the dressing room, we thought that we would be cruising through the chase as well. But the way the ball was seaming in and out, you couldn’t basically decide from inside that this is how I’m going to play. Or even if you saw the wickets, no one threw the wicket away. It was good deliveries,” he said.

“It’s important to forget about this one, obviously, analyze what went wrong in terms of bowling and batting. But at the back of the mind it’s important that we have also won two games. So a lot of inspiration from that one and see to it that we come with a fresh set of mind,” added the 31-year-old cricketer.

IND vs NZ 5th ODI: Match’s date and venue

The fifth ODI match is scheduled to be played on November 15 at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui.

(With PTI Inputs)

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