After a nightmare tour of the West Indies, New Zealand would look to get their acts together when they tour India for two Tests and two Twenty20 encounters. This short series will be New Zealand’s fourth in India in nearly two decades, and history proves that they have never found it easy in Indian conditions. Here’s a recap of how their previous tours have fared.
1955-56 – India 2 New Zealand 0
In New Zealand’s inaugural tour of India in 1955-56, the tourists went down 0-2. The first ever encounter between the two teams was a run-fest with both countries producing high-scoring performances.
The first Test in Hyderabad, in which Polly Umrigar recorded the highest individual score by an Indian (223), was drawn thanks to unbeaten century from Bert Sutcliffe after being forced to follow-on. India won the next match in Bombay by an innings thanks to Vinoo Mankad’s 223 and Subhash Gupte’s eights wickets. Another high-scoring draw followed in Delhi, where just ten wickets fell and Sutcliffe continued his form with an unbeaten 230. The fourth Test in Kolkata provided the third draw of the series. It was a see-saw battle between the two teams, in which New Zealand ended at 75 for 6 after being set an improbably 235 in just over a session. The fifth and final Test in Madras (now Chennai) finally provided the second result of the series. India took the match with their openers Mankad and Pankaj Roy putting on a record 413which was further supported by Gupte and Mankad’s bowling spells.
1964-65 – India 1 New Zealand 0
Draws were an inevitable result of majority of Test matches back then and this series was no different, with three out of four matches resulting in a draw. The first two Tests in Madras and Calcutta were draws, and in the third the visitors put themselves on top by bowling India out for 88 in the first innings. Led by Dilip Vengsarkar (200*) and Chandu Borde (109), India rallied after being forced to follow-on and proceeded to have New Zealand at 80 for 8 when the match was called off. India won the series in Delhi, with S Venkataraghavan taking 12 wickets.
1969-70 – India 1 New Zealand 1
Three years later, New Zealand returned and drew the series. India took the lead with a 60-run win in Bombay, fashioned by their spinners, but Graham Dowling’s side hit back in Nagpur. Inspired by Hedley Howarth’s nine wickets, the tourists bowled India out for 109 to win by 167 runs. The third Test in Hyderabad was a low-scoring and rain-hit draw in which neither side crossed 200 in four innings.
1976-77 – India 2 New Zealand 0
Once again, it was India’s spinners who dominated the three-match series. The first Test in Bombay was won by the home side by a margin of 162 runs, anchored by Sunil Gavaskar’s 109 and Bishan Singh Bedi’s five-wicket haul. Kanpur saw a high-scoring draw with as many as six Indian batsmen scoring half-centuries. A result could not be forced due to time constraints. The Indian bowlers were the architecst of victory in the series decider in Mardas, as Bedi ended up with a wonderful spell of 5 for 22 in 22 overs.
1988-89 – India 2 New Zealand 1
New Zealand next toured India after a gap of 12 years. The first Test in Bangalore saw India emerge victorious thanks Narendra Hirwani’s eight wickets and Navjot Sidhu’s 116 in the first innings. In Mumbai, Hirwani, Ravi Shastri and Arshad Ayub took 17 of the 20 New Zealand wickets to fall but it wasn’t enough to prevent India from losing by 136 runs. Set 145 for victory, the hosts’ batting collapsed with John Bracewell scalping six wickets. With the scores level, the series headed to Hyderabad where Ayub continued his amazing form and increased his tally to 21 as the visitors crumbled down in their second innings. India won by ten wickets.
1995-96 – India 1 New Zealand 0
The series opener in Bangalore was dominated by the local fast bowlers, Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble, who bowled India to victory inside three days. The Karnataka pair combined to bundle New Zealand for 145, and though Chris Cairns bowled outstandingly to keep India’s lead to 83 the batting again disappointed.
The second Test in Madras saw only a total of 71.1 overs bowled as rain played spoil sport and washed out the match. The final test in Cuttack, was also hit by rain. Day one began with Cairns providing early breakthroughs that saw India in jitters as rain came down. Play resumed on the fourth day as Cairns, along with Dion Nash got among the wickets and India declared at 298 for 8. Narendra Hirwani picked up six wickets before the Test was called off.
1999-00 – India 1 New Zealand 0
India escaped humiliation in Mohali after being bowled out for a paltry 83, with Nash taking 6 for 27. Srinath replied with six wickets before India piled up a massive 505 for 3 with Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar scoring centuries. Set 374 to win, New Zealand finished 251 for 7. Kanpur’s Green Park stadium hosted the second match, which India won. On a spinning track, Kumble took ten wickets to set up an eight-wicket win; Daniel Vettori’s 6 for 27 had kept India’s lead to 74, but once again the batsmen failed to step up.
The pitch in Ahmedabad was as dead as a dodo. Tendulkar hit his maiden Test double-century and there were centuries to Sadagoppan Ramesh and Sourav Ganguly in India’s first-innings 583 for 7, after which Kumble took five to gain a 275-run lead. Set 424 to win, New Zealand reached 252 for 2 as the Test was drawn.
2003-04 – India 0 New Zealand 0
The opener was again scheduled in Ahmedabad, where centuries from Dravid and Ganguly helped India to 500 for 5 after the latter opted to bat. In reply, Nathan Astle’s 103 took New Zealand to 340 but India were unable to press for victory as the tourists held on to finish on 272 for 6.
New Zealand produced a dominant batting performance in Mohali, scoring a massive 630 for 6 with as many as four batsmen scoring hundreds – Mark Richardson (145), Lou Vincent (106), Scott Styris (119) and Craig McMillan (100). India’s reply was strong as Virender Sehwag (130) and VVS Laxman (104) scored centuries of their own. India missed the follow-on by just seven runs and the second innings saw Daryl Tuffey rattle India’s top order reducing them to 18 for 3. Laxman (67*) and Aakash Chopra (52) helped India manage a draw in a lackluster series that ended at 0-0.
2010-11 – India 1 New Zealand 0
Yet again Ahmedabad hosted a run-filled draw. Sehwag’s 173 put India on the way to 487; centuries to Jesse Ryder and Kane Williamson took New Zealand to 459. Chris Martin grabbed five to reduce the home side to 65 for 6, but Laxman (91) and Harbhajan Singh (115) put on 163 with the latter scoring his maiden century.
The second match in Hyderabad was again a high-scoring draw with Harbhajan scoring his second consecutive century along with picking up four wickets in the first innings. Brendon McCullum (225) defined India’s bowlers as New Zealand declared to set India an impossible 326 to win.
India took the series with an innings win in Nagpur. India bowled out New Zealand for 194 and then Dravid’s 191 formed the crux of a total of 566. As in the first innings, the tourists’ batsmen failed to apply themselves. India bowled them out for 198, with Ishant Sharma making it seven wickets for the match.