Harmanpreet Kaur laments death bowling as the reason behind recent loss

Losing the one-off T20I match against New Zealand, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur threw light on her side's shortcomings in the fixture. 

Harmanpreet blamed the bowlers for their poor application in the death overs, citing the very same reason that led to their defeat today.

India opted to bowl first but things did not pan as per the plan. The women in blue leaked runs in the powerplay and the wickets did not come easy as well. A quick-fire knock of Lea Tahuhu and a 9-run cameo from Katey Martin landed New Zealand a winning total of 155 runs.

Harmanpreet also emphasised on lack of partnerships with the bat and hoped to come out better in the upcoming five-match ODI series.

"I think we were in the game when we were bowling but the last few overs didn't go in our favour and didn't get any partnerships with the bat as well. Lot to learn from this and hopefully we will get better in the next few games. Playing at the same venue (for ODIs) definitely helps us," Harmanpreet said as quoted by The Times Of India.

As India needed 156 runs to claim the win, their openers adopted a cautious approach. The New Zealanders shunned the Indian batters in the powerplay. The seventh over saw the visitors losing both their openers. It was all downhill from thereon. Wickets fell at regular intervals as Harmanpreet and Co. seemed lost at the Kiwis' shores.

Eventually, India ended their innings at the score of 137/8, suffering a defeat by 18 runs in the solitary T20I. The two teams will now meet in the ODI series, starting from February 12.