‘No one threw away their wicket’: Shreyas Iyer’s stark response after India’s humiliating 244-run defeat against New Zealand

India stand-in captain Shreyas Iyer admitted New Zealand’s bowling made the difference after the visitors suffered a humiliating 244-run defeat in the fourth ODI at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui on Friday.Chasing 334, India were bowled out for just 89 in 28.4 overs, with Matt Henry producing a sensational six-wicket haul to remove the batting order. The defeat reduced India’s lead in the five-match series to 2–1, with the third ODI being swept.In his post-match speech, Iyer acknowledged the impact of Henry’s opening spell and praised the New Zealand pacer for consistently bowling in the right areas.“We saw it, there was a huge difference in the first innings and the second innings in terms of wickets, but also the credit, the way Henry bowled to the right areas right from ball one. I thought it was sensational,” Iyer said.

Iyer defends India’s batting performance

India’s batting collapse began early in the match when Henry dismissed Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer, leaving the visitors at 0/3. Iyer admitted that India tried different bowling strategies during New Zealand’s innings but struggled to contain the hosts. He also pointed to missed opportunities in the field while acknowledging that the team expected to comfortably chase down the target after tracking down New Zealand’s score of 333.“I think we tried almost everything in the first innings, the way they bowled on the rise. And we thought the wicket was better to bat, considering they got 330 after that. Of course, a couple of dropped catches, but that definitely happens in the game,” he said.The Indian skipper also defended his batting, insisting that they were dismissed with quality deliveries rather than throwing away their wickets.

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Share an opinion“But yeah, when we got to the dressing room, we thought we were going to cruise through the chase. But the way the ball was seaming in and out, you basically couldn’t decide from inside that I was going to play like that. Or even when you saw those wickets, nobody bowled a wicket. They were good deliveries,” added Iyer.

Shreyas Iyer urges India to continue

Despite the heavy defeat, Iyer reminded his teammates that India had won the first two matches and urged them to take confidence from those performances ahead of deciding the series.“It’s important to forget that, of course, to analyze what went wrong in terms of bowling and batting. But at the back of the mind, it’s important that we won two matches as well. So take a lot of inspiration from that one and make sure we come with a fresh mind,” he said.New Zealand had earlier posted 333, powered by Will Young’s 125 off 108 balls. Tim Seifert contributed 58 while Finn Allen scored 41. Henry then led a six-wicket bowling effort as India suffered one of the heaviest defeats in ODI cricket.The fifth and final ODI will be played at the same venue on November 15, with India aiming to secure the series and New Zealand looking to level it.