Kiwi batsmen to blame for Chappell-Hadlee Trophy loss: Vettori

Auckland, Mar. 12 (ANI): New Zealand cricket captain Daniel Vettori has slammed his batsmen for their soft dismissals which handed Australia the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy on a platter.

Australia secured a 3-1 series win on Thursday.

"They were the same mistakes as the previous two games and it's really hard to expand on. It was about not putting enough runs on the board, losing wickets at crucial times and putting ourselves under far too much pressure. When you do that against Australia you get yourself in trouble," stuff.co.nz quoted Vettori, as saying.

"Most of the dismissals were relatively soft. They're just poor mistakes and whether it is the mental shift from aggressiveness to accumulation I'm not sure. They're mistakes that shouldn't happen," he added.

Australia retained the trophy for a third consecutive series and Ponting said it at last banished the memory of the 0-3 hiding they received in New Zealand in 2007. (ANI)