Imran Tahir proved to be too much to handle for the Blackcaps batsmen in the T20 international at Eden Park in Auckland on Friday.
The South African leg-spinner took 5-25 as his side skittled New Zealand for a wilting 107 as the visitors completed a 78-run victory.
Coach Mike Hesson believes circumstances of the Blackcaps' own doing led Tahir to be bowling in a perfect situation for the world's best T20 bowler.
"He showed us what he has showed us the last few years," said Hesson.
HIGHLIGHTS: Imran Tahir steals the show at the garden of Eden
"When you are chasing 12-14 runs an over off him he is in his element, if you haven't faced him a lot he is hard to get six to eight an over off - let alone 12-14."
"He is a high-quality bowler, but we need to put him [Tahir] in a situation where we able to play him the way we want to play him, rather than take him on."
Hesson felt something off with his team right from the start, and said when that happens in the shortest form of the game it can be very hard to catch up.
"We were certainly off in most departments which got exposed, so all-in-all it was not a great performance and certainly one we will have to turn around quickly."
Despite the failings of his much talked-about batting line-up, Hesson doesn't believe Ross Taylor would have made too much difference to the result, however he did say the team missed the experience of their best limited-overs batsman, Martin Guptill.
"We certainly missed Martin Guptill up at the top. Guppy and Kane Williamson have certainly given us a great start the last 10-20 matches, so we certainly missed that."
"With the bat, with a score like that, if you get off to a poor start it's hard to come back from. There was nothing glaringly obvious; we were just outplayed by a side that played better than us on the day."
Hesson was happy with the contribution of Central Districts power-hitter Tom Bruce, who was the shining light in a limp batting display.
"I think from a batting point of view, Tom Bruce showed has a little bit of something about him - but we just lost too many wickets through the order, and that's the nature of T20 cricket sometimes."
The first of five ODIs is scheduled for Sunday in Hamilton.
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