Williamson blames top order batsmen for defeat in second ODI

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson blamed the top order batsmen for their six wicket loss in the second One Day International match here on Wednesday.

Pune: New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson blamed the top order batsmen for their six wicket loss in the second One Day International match here on Wednesday.

Williamson also praised the Indian pacers for doing the job correctly at the start.

With this result, India equalised the three match ODI series. In the first match, India were defeated by the visitors by six wickets in Mumbai.

"We weren't good enough at the top, India's opening bowlers were very very well, hit the mark, the length on that surface. There's a lesson there for us," Williamson said.

"We know we have to play a lot better to beat these guys. The surface wasn't easy to play fluently and Colin came out and went at run-a-ball. We came here with high hopes, we put a much better performance in Mumbai and we need to be better again in Kanpur," he added.

A disciplined bowling helped India to restrict New Zealand to 230/9.

For New Zealand, middle-order batsmen Grandhomme (41) Henry Nicholls (42) and Tom Latham (38) were the major contributors as no other batsman read the Indian bowlers correctly.