Dhoni defends Indian batsmen despite poor display

Dhoni defends batsmen despite poor batting performance against New zealand

Despite a poor performance from his batters, save Virender Sehwag, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni defended his batsmen after last night's one-day international against New Zealand.

Thanks to some smart bowling, India beat the Kiwis by 105 runs after a shocking batting performance. India were restricted to 223.

Four flops
Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina failed to reach double-figures. "We can't blame the young batsman for fishing outside the off stump. Everybody is tempted to play shots. Even I took a few innings to settle down in my career," said Dhoni, whose side will meet Sri Lanka in the tri-series final on Saturday.

Sehwag was the solitary reaper from all accounts as he dashed away to his 13th one-day hundred. It would have been his 14th had Sri Lankan of-spinner Suraj Randiv not bowled a no-ball on purpose last week to leave the Indian opener stranded on 99.

"Today's was a much better wicket to bat on. I felt really disappointed when I got out because I could have taken us through to 270 or more. It is pleasing if centuries lead to victories.

"I was experiencing pain in my back and wanted to take the help of the physio. The umpires asked me if I can wait for an over, but I got out," saidu00a0 Sehwag.

Super Praveen
Dhoni was wholesome in his praise for Praveen Kumar, who kicked off New Zealand's slide with three early wickets. "We give Praveen the new ball because he has good control over his swing. Ashish Nehra and Munaf Patel also did a good job," said Dhoni who picked a four-man pace attack. Ishant Sharma was the fourth pacer.u00a0 New Zealand captain Ross Taylor attributed his team's loss to the brilliance of Sehwag and Praveen Kumar.u00a0

u00a0"The way Sehwag batted, it took the game away from us. They then bowled full and straight and made us make tough decisions. The ball has been swinging all through the tournament," said Taylor. Sehwag did not show any signs of fearing the Sri Lankans when it came to talking about Saturday's final. "India always does well in a do-or-die situation.u00a0 "We performed badly against Sri Lanka and it is now our turn to do well in the final. I'm looking forward to the Sri Lanka match," said Sehwag.