New Zealand has always been a country that has punched above its weight, particularly in the shorter formats. For a country that has almost the lowest population of cricket-playing nations, just over 4 million, they keep making it to the knockout stages of major world events in ODIs and T20Is. Their biggest cricketing moment came in 2000 when they won the Champions Trophy.
They will now tour India for a bilateral series comprising of three ODIs and three T20Is. The ODIs will be played in Mumbai, Pune and Kanpur while the T20Is will be played in Delhi, Rajkot and Thiruvananthapuram.
Head to head, India and New Zealand have faced each other in 98 ODIs, with India winning 49, New Zealand winning 43, one being tied and five ending in a no result. In India, the teams have played 32 times with India winning 24, New Zealand winning 7 and one being a no result.
In bilateral ODI series in India, excluding tournaments where they faced other teams, the teams have played 24 ODIs with India winning 18 and the Kiwis winning 6. Against teams other than India in India, the Kiwis have won 10 ODIs, lost 12 with one being a no result.
So, the Kiwis have been fairly competitive against other opposition in India if you take away their modest record against the hosts. That can be attributed to the fact that India are almost impregnable at home and does not in any way imply that the visitors are a poor side.
The following table gives the results of the bilateral ODI series between both teams in India over the years. The teams have played in five bilateral series prior to this and India have emerged victorious on all previous occasions.
|
Year
|
Total Matches
|
India Won
|
NZ Won
|
|
1988
|
4
|
4
|
0
|
|
1995
|
5
|
3
|
2
|
|
1999
|
5
|
3
|
2
|
|
2010
|
5
|
5
|
0
|
|
2016
|
5
|
3
|
2
|
India have been on a spectacular run against all oppositions across all formats over the last 2 years. However, when the two teams met in a 5 match ODI series in 2016 in India, the Kiwis put up an impressive show and stretched India to the limit before losing by 190 runs in the final ODI at Visakhapatnam. The teams haven’t faced each other in any of the venues in which the ODIs are scheduled, though they have played one match at the Nehru Stadium in Pune which India won by five wickets.
So, can the Kiwis be competitive and put on a good show even though India just steamrolled the mighty Aussies 4-1 so recently? India cannot just expect to prepare turning tracks and expect the Kiwis to roll over.
Mitchell Santner is a very skillful left-arm orthodox spinner. Even though it’s a different format, not many Indian fans can forget how preparing a turning track backfired in the WT20 in 2016 when Santner, Ish Sodhi and Nathan McCullum spun a web around the Indian batsmen, taking 9 wickets for just 44 runs in 11 overs. As far as the batting is concerned, Martin Guptill is capable of giving the Kiwis a brisk start and Ross Traylor and Kane Williamson are both dangerous players in the middle order. Even though only Santner has been selected for the ODI series, India will need to bring their A-game and guard against complacency.
The Kiwis have played two ODIs at the Wankhede Stadium: they beat Canada by 97 runs and lost to Sri Lanka by 112 runs. Both these matches took place during the 2011 World Cup.
Moving on to the T20I series, India has played New Zealand 5 times and have lost on all 5 occasions. In fact, New Zealand is the only team amongst the top 10 Test playing nations whom India have not managed to defeat on even a single occasion. The following table gives the details of the 5 venues in which India have squared off against the Kiwis in T20Is.
|
Date of match
|
Venue
|
Result
|
|
16 Sep 2007
|
Johannesburg
|
NZ won by 10 runs
|
|
25 Feb 2009
|
Christchurch
|
NZ won by 7 wickets
|
|
27 Feb 2009
|
Wellington
|
NZ won by 5 wickets
|
|
11 Sep 2012
|
Chennai
|
NZ won by 1 run
|
|
15 Mar 2016
|
Nagpur
|
NZ won by 47 runs
|
New Zealand has not played India at any of the venues in which the upcoming T20Is are scheduled. However, New Zealand did play one T20I in Delhi against England: the semi-final of the 2016 World T20 where they lost by 7 wickets.
Even though India have a very poor head to head record against New Zealand in T20Is, their overall record in T20Is is better than that of the Kiwis.
India has played 85 T20Is, winning 50, losing 32, with one tie and two no results, giving them a Win-Loss ratio of 1.562. New Zealand have played 97 T20Is, winning 49, losing 41, with five ties and two no-results, giving them a Win-Loss ratio of 1.195
While India appear to be more formidable on paper, both the ODI and the T20I series can be closely fought if New Zealand play to potential.
Fast. Lite. Innovative. Shareable. Download our HW Cricket App, for Android and iOS!