Captain Kane Williamson's Blackcaps have wrapped up their two Bay Oval ODI encounters with India, and leave with plenty to work on after taking another hammering tonight.

The Indians lost only three wickets in reaching their target of 244 to win the match, and have locked down the five match series 3-0 after their first-up win in Napier.

Early wickets were always going to be key to any chance the kiwis may have had of scoring a dramatic comeback victory after underachieving again in their batting effort, and some hope arose with the dismissal of Shikhar Dhawan off the bowling of Trent Boult when the Indians had reached 39.

India's batting star Virat Kohli

One scalp was never going to be enough though, and when the world's number one ranked ODI batsman Virat Kohli strode to the wicket and proceeded to put together a partnership with Rohit Sharma that took the total to 152, the match was effectively done and dusted.

Both lost their wickets before the target was reached – Sharma for 62 and Kohli for 60 - but that merely brought the supposed lesser-lights Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik together, who were untroubled in smashing their way to the win.

Local hero Trent Boult was one of the few Blackcaps to leave the match with credit, taking two of the three wickets to fall, including that of Kohli, and conceding just 40 runs off his 10 over spell.

His Northern Districts teammate Mitch Santner was the other wicket-taker, impressively beating Sharma with a delivery that turned away from him as he charged down the wicket, leaving wicketkeeper Tom Latham with a simple stumping job.

Tauranga-born Doug Bracewell will be feeling the pain after his performance tonight, going for 49 off his six overs at an economy rate of 8.17, and doing his chances of selection for this year's World Cup in England no favours.

Earlier Latham along with Ross Taylor had been the stars of the Blackcaps below-par batting effort, with a partnership of 119. Taylor was unlucky to fall seven runs short of what would have been his 21st one day international century, while Latham looked composed in reaching 51.

The Blackcaps have struggled to deal with India's spinners throughout the series, including Yuzvendra Chahal, who took Williamson's wicket today

Williamson says he believes his Blackcaps team are getting closer to the all-conquering Indians, but they still have a gap to close.

'They're a very good side, and there's a reason why they're top in the world. At the moment they're teaching us a lesson and we're required to rise to the challenge.

'There were improvements today but there's a step up that need to be made.”

Kane Williamson walks off the Bay Oval with 28, having made a start but as in Saturday's match not managing to go on to a substantial score

They now travel to Hamilton and Wellington for the remaining two matches in the series, hoping to produce a major lift in performance to avoid a 5-0 series whitewash.

The Bay Oval has come out of the weekend with its reputation enhanced, however, having attracted a capacity crowd of over 9100 for Saturday's match and slightly less than that today.

And one more day of international cricket remains for the Bay Oval with the White Ferns continuing their series against India tomorrow, and hoping for a major turnaround after taking a nine-wicket thrashing from them in the first match in Napier.

India's Bharat Army added much colour and atmosphere to the two matches at the Bay Oval