New Zealand opener Devon Conway, whose superb 100-ball 138 went in vain as India won the third ODI to clean sweep the series, said his team's failure to build more partnerships and putting the Indian bowlers under pressure led to their defeat at the Holkar Stadium here.
Chasing a mammoth total of 385/9l, New Zealand got off to the worst possible start as Hardik Pandya removed Finn Allen for a duck in the very first over. However, the early wicket didn't affect Conway and Henry Nicholls much as they raised 106 runs for the second wicket before Nicholls was out.
Conway and Daryl Mitchell then took the score to 184. But Shardul Thakur scalped three back-to-back wickets of Mitchell (24), Tom Latham (0) and Glenn Phillips (5) to swing the contest back into India's favour, leaving New Zealand struggling at 200/5 after 27.4 overs. They were eventually bowled out for 295 in 41.2 overs.