Captain Kane Williamson says New Zealand need to improve their batting if they are going to compete with India this series.
The Black Caps lost the second T20I by seven wickets at Eden Park on Sunday after making just 132 runs.
India chased down the target to take a 2-0 lead in the five-game series.
The third T20 takes place in Hamilton on Wednesday. India are 1.47 (7/15) favourites with 10Cric to make it 3-0. New Zealand are available at 2.35 (27/20) with the same firm to bounce back at Seddon Park.
Williamson knows where New Zealand must find improvement
After successive losses in Auckland against Virat Kohli’s men, Williamson admits his players need to find more to be competitive.
He said: “It was a tough day and the wicket was quite different from the first game.
“As a batting unit, we needed probably another 15-20 runs more for a competitive total.
“Credit to the Indian bowlers for the way they restricted us, credit to the Indian side that put us under pressure and outplayed us in all the departments.
“Even if we had 130 on the board on a small ground, we knew we had to take early wickets. I think with the spinners, we were able to take the game to a point where something had to give.
“They showed the experience and took the game deeper, they were clinical,” he said.”
Batting comes under the spotlight of the skipper
Williamson has targeted getting more runs on the board as the way his side can get closer to the talented tourists.
He added: “We need to bat a little better perhaps. That's something we would like to do. I don't think the surface changed too much. We needed to take a couple of wickets on the sluggish wicket.
“We were probably 15-20 runs than where we wanted to be. We need to be better in the next match.
“We need to keep moving forward as a group as we're up against a tough side like India. That's a great thing, we get to test ourselves against the best.”
