<p>“It was a bad day for us,” the Indian captain said, minutes after his side was shot out for 88 by New Zealand’s four-pronged seam attack. “We missed a couple of chances but even if we had taken them and kept them down to 200, it would have been a difficult total to chase under the conditions. But yes, we could have applied ourselves and batted better.”<br /><br />India were undone by a combination of seam and bounce. “The toss is very crucial here, as it always is in Sri Lanka under lights,” Dhoni observed. “There was a lot of assistance for the bowlers and as the match progressed, the ball was not coming on to the bat. But the bounce wasn’t quick bounce, it was spongy, tennis-ball bounce which made stroke-making difficult.”<br /><br />Refusing to blame the schedule – India had just two days between the end of the Test series and the start of the tri-series – Dhoni went on, “It is quite tough, it was an intense Test series. We had just two days in the middle, but that is not a point of complaint. I am not blaming the schedule, we should have adapted better.”<br /><br />The best way to recover from such a crushing defeat, he offered, was to take some time off. “Especially for those who played the Tests, a couple of days of total rest away from cricket will be good,” said Dhoni, pointing out that India’s next match was only on August 16.<br /><br />Senior pro Scott Styris, who played a crucial part in the Kiwi victory with a polished 89, said his team felt it had a point to prove. “We are delighted with this win. We felt that with us missing Daniel (Vettori) and Brendon (McCullum), we were not getting the same respect from a lot of people including the media,” said the 35-year-old. “We have got talented players and a good team, and we wanted to show that to everyone.”<br /><br />Styris added that well as Praveen Kumar and Ashish Nehra bowled, New Zealand had the better resources. “They had only three quicks (Mithun bowled just four overs because of a heatstroke) while we had four, and that was a huge difference,” he noted.<br /><br />India’s worst defeats (in terms of runs):<br /><br />* By 245 runs against Sri Lanka, chasing 300 at Sharjah on Oct 29, 2000<br />* By 208 runs against Australia, chasing 360 at Sydney on Feb 8, 2004<br />* By 202 runs against England, chasing 335 at Lord’s on Jun 7, 1975<br />* By 200 runs against New Zealand, chasing 289 at Dambulla on Aug 10, 2010<br />* By 162 runs against Australia, chasing 321 at Nottingham on Jun 13, 1983<br />India’s lowest scores in ODIs:<br />* 54 v Sri Lanka (Sharjah, 2000)<br />* 63 v Australia (Sydney, 1981)<br />* 78 v Sri Lanka (Kanpur, 1986)<br />* 79 v Pakistan (Sialkot, 1978)<br />* 88 v New Zealand (Dambulla, 2010)</p>
<p>“It was a bad day for us,” the Indian captain said, minutes after his side was shot out for 88 by New Zealand’s four-pronged seam attack. “We missed a couple of chances but even if we had taken them and kept them down to 200, it would have been a difficult total to chase under the conditions. But yes, we could have applied ourselves and batted better.”<br /><br />India were undone by a combination of seam and bounce. “The toss is very crucial here, as it always is in Sri Lanka under lights,” Dhoni observed. “There was a lot of assistance for the bowlers and as the match progressed, the ball was not coming on to the bat. But the bounce wasn’t quick bounce, it was spongy, tennis-ball bounce which made stroke-making difficult.”<br /><br />Refusing to blame the schedule – India had just two days between the end of the Test series and the start of the tri-series – Dhoni went on, “It is quite tough, it was an intense Test series. We had just two days in the middle, but that is not a point of complaint. I am not blaming the schedule, we should have adapted better.”<br /><br />The best way to recover from such a crushing defeat, he offered, was to take some time off. “Especially for those who played the Tests, a couple of days of total rest away from cricket will be good,” said Dhoni, pointing out that India’s next match was only on August 16.<br /><br />Senior pro Scott Styris, who played a crucial part in the Kiwi victory with a polished 89, said his team felt it had a point to prove. “We are delighted with this win. We felt that with us missing Daniel (Vettori) and Brendon (McCullum), we were not getting the same respect from a lot of people including the media,” said the 35-year-old. “We have got talented players and a good team, and we wanted to show that to everyone.”<br /><br />Styris added that well as Praveen Kumar and Ashish Nehra bowled, New Zealand had the better resources. “They had only three quicks (Mithun bowled just four overs because of a heatstroke) while we had four, and that was a huge difference,” he noted.<br /><br />India’s worst defeats (in terms of runs):<br /><br />* By 245 runs against Sri Lanka, chasing 300 at Sharjah on Oct 29, 2000<br />* By 208 runs against Australia, chasing 360 at Sydney on Feb 8, 2004<br />* By 202 runs against England, chasing 335 at Lord’s on Jun 7, 1975<br />* By 200 runs against New Zealand, chasing 289 at Dambulla on Aug 10, 2010<br />* By 162 runs against Australia, chasing 321 at Nottingham on Jun 13, 1983<br />India’s lowest scores in ODIs:<br />* 54 v Sri Lanka (Sharjah, 2000)<br />* 63 v Australia (Sydney, 1981)<br />* 78 v Sri Lanka (Kanpur, 1986)<br />* 79 v Pakistan (Sialkot, 1978)<br />* 88 v New Zealand (Dambulla, 2010)</p>
