5 reasons India have not been able to beat New Zealand in T20Is

#2 Failure to hit the ground running (Christchurch, 2009)

Ian Butler picked up the crucial wickets of Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni

When an in-form Indian contingent comprising of numerous world-class players departed for Kiwi shores for a full tour in 2009, high expectations were firmly entrenched upon them as New Zealand had been struggling with a gruelling transition period. In sync with their reputation of being slow starters, the visitors took some time to adapt to the challenging conditions and began on a disappointing note. The casualties were the two curiously placed T20Is at Christchurch and Wellington.

If the second game in Wellington was decided due to their lack of genuine death bowlers, the preceding match saw the Indian batting lineup implode in spectacular fashion.

On a docile surface, the New Zealand seamers made telling blows by simply adhering to the basics. They built pressure by stitching together sequences of dot balls and induced fatal mistakes from the batsmen.

After bludgeoning four sixes from just ten balls, Sehwag got a bit too greedy and gifted his wicket to Ian O'Brien. Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni were undone by Ian Butler's nagging line. With the spinners striking a couple of useful blows as well, India collapsed to 82/6 at the half-way mark.

Although the exploits of the lower-order carried them to 162, the total eventually proved to be below par as the Kiwis surged to a comfortable victory with seven wickets to spare.