New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner admitted that his side came agonisingly close to levelling the five-match T20I series against India at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Saturday, 24 October, only to fall short by four wickets as an unbeaten partnership between Tilak Varma and Nitish Kumar Reddy steered the visitors to an unlikely 181-run chase.

The Partnership That Decided the Match

India were in trouble for much of the chase before Varma and Reddy combined for an unbeaten 69-run stand that changed the complexion of the contest entirely. Santner was candid about how close New Zealand came to sealing the game. 'I mean, you play a very good team. It's always going to be like that, I think. Tilak and Naman and then obviously Reddy at the end, really played pretty well. I think if we got one more wicket there, it was kind of game over. So the way they controlled that chase and, I guess, made us make some errors at the end,' the captain said after the defeat.

Costly Errors in the Field

New Zealand's campaign was undermined by a string of small but significant mistakes. Bevon Jacobs dropped a sitter to reprieve Naman Dhir on nine; the batter went on to make a crucial 31 off 17 balls. Glenn Phillips also suffered a rare misfield in the deep that conceded a boundary at a critical moment. Perhaps most damaging was a no-ball from Jacob Duffy that overturned the dismissal of opener Abhishek Sharma — though Sharma was eventually removed for 14 — and a handful of other no-balls that handed India additional deliveries. 'A couple of no-balls, obviously no-ball wicket and stuff like that along the way, that obviously hurts you,' Santner acknowledged.

Santner and Bracewell Shine, Then Leak

The New Zealand bowling attack was not without merit. Santner himself delivered a disciplined spell, finishing with figures of 4 for 21, while Michael Bracewell was effective through the middle overs before leaking 15 runs in his final over to finish with 0 for 35 from four overs. Santner reflected positively on the team's effort with the ball: 'I thought we did pretty well to claw them back, and then obviously through the middle, Beast (Bracewell) is bowling extremely well, and it was nice to get a few poles.'

Injury Concerns Cloud New Zealand's Pace Attack

New Zealand were also hampered by fitness concerns, with Matt Henry restricted to just two overs and Lockie Ferguson also leaving the field — both during the crucial death overs when India needed to accelerate. Santner described the decisions as precautionary and hinted at possible rotation across the series. 'I think it's precautionary, and I think Lockie went off as well. So hopefully those guys scrub up okay. But I think with the quick turnarounds throughout the series and in the one-day, there could be a bit of rotation,' he said. The absences left New Zealand's death-overs attack visibly stretched, a gap India's lower order exploited.

Series Picture and What Comes Next

India now lead the five-match series 2-0 heading into the next fixture. New Zealand will need to address their execution lapses — particularly in the field and with no-balls — if they are to mount a comeback. Santner conceded that the margins were fine but the errors were self-inflicted: 'From a skills point of view, it's been very good the last two games. It's just kind of those little moments where whether it's in the field or kind of those little sloppy stuff that's going to hurt us a little bit.' With Henry and Ferguson's availability uncertain, the hosts face a testing middle phase of the series.