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Kiwis got it wrong

New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming read the Ferozshah Kotla wicket wrongly today and paid the price as the visitors lost the fifth one-day international and the series by seven wickets.

''After a look at the wicket we thought it would not last the whole day and elected to bat,'' Fleming said during his post match interaction with mediapersons.

The Kotla wicket, traditionally known to favour batsmen, had something else in store today as runs could not flow at the will of the batsmen. Barring some lusty hitting by Saurav Ganguly, who was named man of the match and the series, the Indian chase was rather slow, as the target of 179 was reached with barely six overs to spare.

Fleming said the Kotla wicket played slow. ''The Indians fielded and bowled very well. We thought a total of 220 would be worth defending, but in the first 15 overs we could not get the bowlers away to put pressure on the Indians,'' he said.

While defending a meagre total, his side needed some early wickets, Fleming said. ''But the rest did not come up.''

The Kiwi skipper also said that he sorely missed the services of Dion Nash and Craig McMillan, who dropped out mid way through the series because of injuries.

Despite having lost the Test series (0-1) and the one-day Pepsi Cup (2-3), Fleming had no complaints against the Indian wickets.

''The tracks were good and we were happy,'' he said while withholding comments on umpiring.

The Kiwi skipper, who came to India with an historic 2-1 Test series victory against England on the English soil, said: ''We are a young side and should be ready to face any challenges.''

His Indian counterpart Sachin Tendulakar, euphoric after the twin win, complimented the entire team for the effort in clinching the decider today.

''Sometimes it is good to lose the toss and the win here would prepare us for the upcoming 76-day tour of Australia beginning later this month,'' the master batsman said.

UNI