“Mid-innings slump cost us the match”

"Yusuf got out off inside edge, that was crucial because we banked on those kind of batsmen. When me and Yuvi were batting, we wanted to play the middle overs. We had a decent start and we had big hitters down the order," said India captain MS Dhoni.

"Those 2-3 wickets we lost in the middle was very crucial for us," he said.

"I think if we had bowled a little better with the new ball and not given so many runs upfront, may be things could have been different. The match went to the last ball and you don’t expect anything better," said the Indian captain.

"I’m still happy with the way the spinners, especially Jadeja, bowled. There was a chat around in the camp to play one more seamer but Jadeja did a fantastic job. He scored a few runs and bowled well too," Dhoni said.

"I’m pleased with the bowling effort. Guys like (Jesse) Ryder stepped up really well. We had an opportunity to attack their fifth bowler but it didn’t work," said New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori.

Vettori said, "It was great batting by him. The two fours he hit in the last over brought us back in the match and he then finished it off."

"I’m really happy and I think I played better than the last match. We had a really quick start and it was a matter of keeping pace with things," he said.