Skipper Kane Williamson is hoping long-term lessons will be learned from New Zealand's crushing 190-run defeat to India in the fifth and final one-day international in Visakhapatnam.
Amit Mishra spun out New Zealand for 79 as they attempted a futile chase to India's 6-269, dashing Kiwi hopes of a first ODI series victory on the sub-continent.
With the series level at 2-2, Mishra's 5-18 off six overs destroyed New Zealand, their last eight wickets falling for 16 runs.
Rohit Sharma (70) and Virat Kohli (65) had set up India's total, putting on 79 for the second wicket before Kohli and MS Dhoni (41) added 71 for the third.
For the Black Caps, Trent Boult (2-52) and Ish Sodhi (2-66) led the way, with Jimmy Neesham and Mitch Santner also picking up a wicket apiece.
A downcast Williamson, who top-scored for the Black Caps with 27, afterwards said there could be no excuses.
"It's hard to look past our last performance right now.
"It was a tough surface but there's certainly no excuses from us. We were extremely poor with the bat," he said.
"That would be the most frustrating thing as a batting group, to lose 8-16."
The Black Caps went winless in the three-Test series in India which preceded the five ODI matches, but Williamson said there were still positives to be taken from the tour overall.
"There's a lot of lessons to be learned here against a very good side in these conditions," he said.
"To get that kind of exposure is a fantastic experience,and unfortunately sometimes some of the biggest and brightest lessons come with failures and defeats.
"I certainly do hope we learn a lot from this series."
He said one of the bright points had come from the performances of relative newcomers Mitchell Santner and Tom Latham.
"Mitch has performed day in and day out in the Test matches, and now in the one-dayers.
"His change of pace and being able to spin the ball on any surface was a great asset to have as a captain, not to mention his batting as well and his fielding," Williamson said.
"I think Tom Latham at the top was outstanding, and it was nice to see Guptill show that presence at the crease in the last couple of games.
"But at the same time we do need to take those little good bits a lot further."
