Iyer claims nature of pitch changed from belter to seamer-friendly in heavy defeat

MOUNT MAUNGANUI India skipper Shreyas Iyer on Friday blamed the change in the pitch for their massive 244-run defeat to New Zealand in the fourth ODI, saying it went from a belter to a seaming track. He, however, vowed to draw inspiration from the first two ODIs, approach the next match with a fresh mind and level the series. New Zealand posted 333 after being put in by stand-in captain Iyer, but India's batting line-up suffered a spectacular collapse, being bundled out for 89 in 26.4 overs. Pacer Matt Henry ripped through the top order to finish with figures of 6/27.

"A tough one, I guess, to take that. There was a huge difference between the wickets between innings," Iyer, who is captaining India in ODIs for the first time, said during the post-match presentation. "But also credit where it's due, the way Henry bowled in the right areas right from ball one. I think that was sensational.

We tried almost everything in the first innings, the way they were playing on the rise. And we thought that the wicket was better to bat on considering they got 330 after that.