It was another case of so near yet so far for New Zealand, as they went down fighting to India in the second match at the Hagley Oval. New Zealand did a lot of things right and pushed India to the brink. But when the game was on the line, they were found wanting and lacking in a few areas. Mistakes and errors at the wrong time meant India, who made less errors on the field managed to take a 2-0 lead in the 5-match series. New Zealand has all to do now. We will try and analyse why New Zealand fell short last night to the Indians.
Losing 3 wickets in the power play dented the Kiwis
New Zealand were put into bat first on a challenging track, being a used pitch, and had to apply themselves. The Indian bowlers bowled better lines and lengths and choked the Kiwis in the initial overs. The Indian fast bowlers were brilliant as they strangled the New Zealand team in the powerplay. Wickets also fell in the power play which dented the hosts. The top 3 failed to get going for the hosts.
Tim Seifert was the first to depart to Arshdeep Singh, while Daryl Mitchell followed suit, getting dismissed to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Finn Allen too fell in the last over of the powerplay to Prince Yadav. The scoring was on the slower side as the Kiwis made 43/3 in 6 overs. No doubt, the hosts showed character to recover and post 180 on the board. They even restricted India to 44/1 in 6 overs. But losing 3 wickets meant they had to go into a rebuilding mode for a while, which may have cost them an extra 10-15 runs.
It is very rare that the top three comprising Seifert, Allen, and Mitchell did not click and failed yesterday, which dented them a little bit. In the first game, they clicked as a unit. But they found the going tough on a used pitch. Looking ahead to the third and most important game of the series, New Zealand would be hoping that their top-order batters get a start and convert it into something significant, like Glenn Phillips, who is playing outstandingly well at this stage. The others need to step up and be counted in this series.
Unforced errors like dropped catches, no balls, and misfields hampered the Blackcaps
In a closely contested clash between the two teams, the match is decided on the basis of which team makes fewer errors than the other. So far in both games, it is the hosts who are making more unforced errors than the visitors. In the first game too, missed catches cost the Kiwis. Here too, there were other errors made barring catches, and we will try and deep dive into those things here.
For starters, Abhishek Sharma was dismissed when he was on 2*, and the score was also on 2, when Jacob Duffy thought he had his man. But there was a late twist. The bowler overstepped, and Abhishek could continue his innings. Abhishek fell for 27 in the end, but those extra 25 runs from the southpaw turned out to be crucial. There were lots of misfielding and run-out direct hits, but the batter made his ground all the time. Another time, Naman Dhir came to the crease and was batting on 9* when Bevon-John Jacobs dropped a sitter at backward point off Mitchell Santner.
Naman cashed in on the reprieve and made 31 off 17 balls, which means 22 more runs than should have been. Santner got him in the end, but the damage was done as India got some impetus and a partnership going. In a tight game, these extra runs cost the Kiwis, as had those catches and no balls not happened, India would surely have lost. The Kiwis were guilty of bowling 3 no balls and one of them had the wicket. Looking ahead, New Zealand will have to do the basics right and control the controllables to come back into the series. Doing the one-percenters right is important in a tight game.
Failing to land the knockout punch hurt the Kiwis
What will hurt New Zealand the most is that despite these errors on the field, they were still firm favourites to win the match and level the series. But when it came to the death overs, they were found wanting and failed to land the knockout blow and close the contest out. The Kiwis, thanks to Mitchell Santner’s spell, had reduced India to 70/5 and then later to 112/6. In the last 5 overs, India needed 69 and the last recognised pair was at the crease in Tilak Varma and Nitish Kumar Reddy.
The task was daunting for India, but New Zealand did not have the services of Matt Henry due to an injury as he was being assessed, while Lockie Ferguson went off the field towards the end. Duffy was off the field as well for a while. But despite that, New Zealand should have defended this score with ease. Credit to Tilak and Nitish to ace the chase and set it up perfectly. But the Kiwis did not execute properly in the final overs, and India took full advantage of it. The duo counter-attacked and took the game away from New Zealand, and the Men in Blue won the game.
New Zealand will need fit bowlers in the park and will hope that their bowlers find the right lines and lengths on these surfaces. They need to bowl better in the end overs, as in the middle phase they are bowling really well and putting India under the pump. But the death overs are where the issue is. In the must-win clash, the aim will be to get these things right and come up with a better performance in the third match of this 5-match series.
What Lies Ahead
So, India are leading the 5-match series 2-0 and will look to seal the series when the two teams meet again at Wellington on Tuesday, 24th October 2026 from 12:30 PM IST onwards. New Zealand will be desperate to keep the series alive with a win at the capital, while India will aim to seal the deal here itself. Let’s see how the third match of the series pans out in Wellington.
Also Read: NZ vs IND: Tilak Varma’s Spectacular Knock Shocks New Zealand