Hamilton, Feb 10 (IANS): Disappointed after losing the Twenty20 International (T20I) series to New Zealand, India captain Rohit Sharma praised the hosts for their performance in the third match here on Sunday.

The Kiwis defeated India by four runs in the third and final T20I to take the series 2-1. The hosts had won the first match by 80 runs, while India took the second game by seven wickets.

"Pretty disappointing to not get to the finishing line. 210-odd was always going to be tough, and we were in the game right till the end. But New Zealand held their nerve and they deserved to win. We started off well in ODIs, and the boys will be disappointed not getting to the finishing line in the T20s," Rohit said after the match.

Rohit, however, asserted that the Indians will have to take their lessons from the defeat and prepare for the upcoming home series against Australia.

"Lots of positives, and a few mistakes. There's a lot of material to move ahead. It would have been nice to win the series and go home and play Australia. But unfortunately we couldn't do that," he said.