In India's delight of an unassailable 3-0 lead, New Zealand all-rounder Mitchell Santner did not hide his frustration with the poor execution of plans in the ongoing five-match ODI series.
To get their ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 preparations back on track, the Kiwi player believes his team needs to simply look to implement their plans better rather than focusing on major tactical overhauls in the remainder of series against India.
"I think the plans have been pretty solid maybe the execution has been off at times. If we can get two wickets in the top 10 overs or even the first five, if we can get into their middle order a bit early... every game they have got off to good starts, we have not seen much of their back end. I guess the key for us is to keep taking wickets through the middle, keep being aggressive," ICC quoted Santner, as saying on Wednesday.
India dominated New Zealand in every department as they produced a master-class of adapting to unusual conditions. However, Santner stresses the problem with Kiwi men is with the bat as they have managed to cross the 200-mark only once so far.
"We saw a good partnership between Ross Taylor and Tom Latham last game, then we lost a couple and fell over a bit. They (India) have bowled very well in the top 10 and we have not really got away. If we can get through the first 10 overs with wickets in hand, then set up the back-end where we have got some power hitters, we can get to a pretty good total," the all-rounder pointed out.
India and New Zealand will lock horns in the fourth ODI slated to be held on January 31 at the Seddon Park.