With this victory, the Black Caps have also sealed the series as the opening fixture at Visakhapatnam was abandoned due to rain.
The wicketkeeper/batsman won the toss and opted to bowl first, which turned out to be the right decision, with the Men in Blue picking up a couple of scalps in the match’s opening two overs.
However, Brendon McCullum consolidated the situation for the Kiwis, scoring 91 runs off merely 55 balls to help his side post a competitive total of 167 runs for the loss of five wickets in their allotted 20 overs.
India were cruising at one stage, with just 48 needed of 40 balls, but the middle-order batsmen failed to cross the line and fell short by just one run.
The cricketer from Jharkhand expressed after the match that the ball was not coming on to the bat nicely during the death overs, which made the job extremely tough for him and Yuvraj Singh.
"The wicket slowed down and it was difficult to hit. It's among the bigger grounds. It was holding up and not all the balls had same bounce. In the end it became quite difficult. But we should have won this game," said Dhoni. "After the 10th or 12th over, it got tough. Had it remained the way it was in the first half, we would have fancied our chances."
The Men in Blue, who have failed to impress in the last two ICC World T20s after winning the tournament’s inaugural edition in South Africa in 2007, will play a couple of practice matches against Pakistan and Sri Lanka before the event kicks-off. The captain thinks that those encounters will be extremely valuable for his side.
"To play a few games before getting into the World Cup is very important. Two more games in Sri Lanka, that means we will get into the groove," he added.
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