The series in NZ in February 2023 was drawn 1-1, in contrast to England’s 3-0 sweep at home in 2022.
Th second Test saw two unusual results. It was only the second Test to be won by a margin of 1 run. Here is a list of Tests where the margin was 5 runs or less:
It was only the 4th time that a team lost a Test after imposing a follow-on, and the first such instance when Australia was not involved:
A total of 112 Tests have been played between these teams. England leads 52-13 with 47 draws.
In England, England leads 33-6 with 20 draws in 59 Tests
In New Zealand, England leads 19-7 with 27 draws in 53 Tests.
We now look at individual performances, starting with
Most runs (1000 or more):
JE Root now has the most runs in these matches. He is the only current player in the above list.
Highest individual scores (175 or more):
H Brook’s 186 is the only score from the current series. The highest in recent years was 226 by Root in 2019.
Highest batting averages (Minimum 20 innings and 40.00):
Root has the second-highest average, followed by BA Stokes at some distance.
Highest strike rates (Minimum 1000 balls faced and 50.00):
Fittingly, BB McCullum heads this list. Current players here include Stokes, Pope, Root and Blundell.
India continued its run of successes in white-ball cricket at home, winning the series 2-1 after losing the first match.
A total of 25 T20Is have been played between these teams.
India leads 12-10 with 3 ties.
In India, India leads 7-4
In NZ, India leads 5-4 with 3 ties
On neutral grounds, India trail 0-2. Both these losses came in World Cup matches.
Looking at individual performances, starting with Batting:
Most runs (250 or more):
Headed by RG Sharma with C Munro some distance behind Munro. S Gill and SA Yadav are the only other ones with centuries. RG Sharma has the most fifties (six).
Highest innings (75 or more):
S Gill now has the highest score in this series, overtaking Yadav’s 111* a short time ago. Munro’s 109* is the best for NZ.
Highest strike rates (minimum 250 balls faced):
This time Munro is ahead of RG Sharma.
Now for Bowling:
Most wickets (8 or more):
New Zealand bowlers dominate this list, starting with Sodhi (25) and Southee (20). The most for India is Bumrah’s 12.
Best innings bowling (including all 4wi or more):
DJ Hooda, not a frontline bowler, has the best innings figures followed by Santner and Pandya.
Most dismissals (8 or more):
Southee has the most dismissals (13). The most by a keeper is 9 by Dhoni.
Most innings dismissals: Several players have made 3 dismissals in an innings.
All-round match performance(20 runs and 2 wickets):
HH Pandya appears to have the best match performance, which came in India’s win in the final T20I.
India won the T20I series against New Zealand 2-1, winning the decider in Ahmedabad by 168 runs. This is not a record for all T20Is, but it is a record for T20Is between full members.
The previous record for matches between full members was 143 runs, which has occurred twice: India vs Ireland in June 2018 and Pakistan vs West Indies in April 2018.
Looking at individual scores:
We see that Shubman Gill’s 126* is the highest T20I score for India. It surpasses V Kohli’s 122* vs Afghanistan in Sep 2022.
A total of 116 ODIs have been played between these teams,
India have won 58, New Zealand 50, ties 1, no result 7
In India: 29-8-0-1
In NZ: 14-26-1-4
Neutral 15-16-0-2
Note the strong home advantage for both teams.
Looking at individual performances, starting with Batting:
Most runs (750 or more):
The most centuries were 6 by Sehwag, followed by three players with 5 (Tendulkar, Kohli and Astle). The most 50+ scores were 13 by Kohli and Tendulkar, followed by 11 by R Taylor.
Highest innings scores (115 or more):
In this series, S Gill’s 208 became the highest for India against NZ, surpassing Tendulkar’s 186* in 1999. That was at Hyderabad, though on another ground.MG Bracewell’s 140 was the highest for NZ in India, surpassing NJ Astle’s 120 in 1999. Conway’s 138 also surpassed the old record.
Highest batting averages (Minimum 20 innings, all instances):
Headed by Kohli with Latham close behind.
Highest strike rates (Minimum 500 balls faced and 75.00):
Headed by Sehwag with Kapil Dev close behind.
Now for Bowling:
Most wickets (20 or more):
Srinath is far ahead of the second-placed Kumble. Southee has the most among current players.
Best innings bowling (including all 5wi):
SE Bond is the only one with a 6-for. Next is A Mishra. K Srikkanth is the only one with 2 five-fors.
Best bowling averages (Minimum 1000 balls bowled, all instances):
The best averages are by Srinath and Hadlee.
The best economy rates are by Hadlee and Kapil
The best strike rates are by Srinath and Southee.
Next is Fielding:
Most dismissals (12 or more):
Headed by the lesser-known NR Mongia, who also has the most stumpings. Latham has the most from current players, and R Taylor has the most catches by a fielder
Best innings fielding (4 or more dismissals):
Several have made 5 dismissals in an innings. Similarly for 4 catches as a fielder.
Best dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, 0.500):
Again headed by NR Mongia.
All-round performances:
Overall performances (see criteria in table below):
Only one player qualifies here,
Match performances:
Only one player qualifies, and he was an occasional bowler.
After India’s first innings in the 2nd Test against New Zealand, a number of records have to be rewritten. Here we look at the best innings bowling against India by all teams in Tests.
(This covers all instances of 7 or more wickets in an innings):
Bombay-born Ajaz Patel now has:
Best figures by any team against India. The previous record was 9-95 by JM Noreiga of WI, in what was India’s first Test victory against WI.
Best figures by NZ against India. The previous record was 7-23 by Sir Richard Hadlee at Wellington in 1976. In India, the previous record was 7-64 by Patel’s teammate TG Southee at Bengaluru in 2012.
Best figures by any team against India in India. The previous record was 8-50 by NM Lyon (Aus) at Bengaluru in 2017.
We now look at the best bowling figures by New Zealand against all teams in Tests.
Ajaz Patel’s 10-119 was the best by any NZ bowler, surpassing the 9-52 by Sir Richard Hadlee against Australia at Brisbane in 1985. This also makes Patel’s haul the best for NZ away from home.
The best figures for NZ at home remain with Sir Richard, with his 7-23 against India at Wellington in 1976.
After the Test is over, we will have a look at match bowling records.
For the moment, we note that the best match figures against India are 13-106 by IT Botham (also at Wankhede) in 1980. And the best match figures by New Zealand are 15-123 by Sir Richard Hadlee against Australia at Brisbane in 1985.
This is what the final table of the WTC looked like. Note that the recent WI-SA series was also part of the WTC. Clearly these teams were not anywhere near the top 2:
We also look at the ICC ranking tables on June 24:
Here NZ is just ahead of India. There are some differences in the lower rankings.
It may happen that Zimbabwe (or even Afghanistan) will take Bangladesh’s place in the next cycle.
A quick look at the main statistical highlights of the WTC Tests (Remember that they started in 2019):
Most runs (750 or more):
Strangely the first few positions are from those whose teams did not reach the final. Rahane and R Sharma are in 5th and 6th place.
Highest scores (150 or more):
Kohli and Williamson are in 3rd and 4th place.
Highest batting averages (Min 20 innings, 25.00):
Again, the best from India and NZ is in 6th place (Rahane), followed by MA Agarwal and Kohli. Pujara’s decline is clear.
Williamson is not here is he batted in less than 20 innings.
Most wickets (20 or more):
Ashwin has the most wickets, followed closely by Australia’s Cummins and England’s Broad. Southee and Jamieson have the most from NZ.
We can also see that Ashwin, Lyon and AR Patel each took 4 five-fors, and that Broad, Lyon, Jamieson, Embuldeniya and AR Patel each took a ten-for.
Best innings bowling (includes all 6wi or more):
Along with the lesser-known Embuldeniya, Ashwin also took a 7-for. There are startling figures of 5-7 by Bumrah, 5-8 by Hazlewood and Root (!) which were both against India.
Best match bowling (includes all 9wm or more):
AR Patel has the best figures here followed by Jamieson and the newcomer Jayawickrama. Ishant Sharma and Ashwin are also here.
Bowling average (Min 2000 balls, all instances):
Broad and Ashwin have the first two places here.
For economy rate, it is Hazlewood and Ashwin.
For strike rate, it is Broad and Southee.
Jamieson does not appear here as he has not bowled enough in the WTC matches.
Most dismissals (15 and above):
Watling bowed out in 4th place. Pant has the next highest. He also took the most stumpings (6). Root has the most catches by a fielder (34).
Most dismissals in an innings (5 or more):
de Kock is the only one with 6 catches, and Stokes and Thirimanne the only fielders with 5.
Most dismissals in a match (7 or more):
Paine and de Kock dominate here. No fielder has taken more than 6 catches.
Best dismissal rate (Min 20 innings, 0.65):
Paine and Watling lead. SPD Smith and Root have the most by fielders.
Overall all-round performance (see criteria in table):
Jadeja and Stokes (with Holder a distant third) did the best here. But there is no one from NZ.
Match all-round performances (fifty plus 5wi):
The best performances here are by Ashwin (100/5wi) and Broad (50/10wm).
Player of the series? Perhaps Williamson. He did not make the most runs, but how he made them was more important (notably in the final):
Future internationals in this match included Worker, Williamson, Southee, CJ Anderson and Boult from NZ and Kohli, SS Tiwary, MK Pandey and Sir Ravindra Jadeja (though he was a minor nobleman at that time) from India.
In the other semi-final SA won against Pak.
In the final, Ind won against SA by 12 runs (again by D/L):
Victories for New Zealand were few and far between in those days. At that time even India always considered them to be a lesser team. His tenure as captain included NZ’s first win against Australia in 1974, and earlier his 175 came close to bringing his team to an improbable win against England, making 440 and losing by 38 runs:
That was then the highest fourth-innings score in a loss, though it has since been surpassed.
Congdon was a part-time medium pacer. His best bowling and all-round performance came in a Test against India at Auckland in early 1976. By then Glenn Turner was captain. India won this Test, which was significant in several ways.
Congdon scored 54 and 54 besides taking 5-65. Apart from this:
Surender Amarnath scored a century on debut. Like his father, he never made a Test century after his debut.
Gavaskar won his first Test as captain and made a century as well. He was standing in for BS Bedi who made his debut as captain in the second Test of the series.
Prasanna’s 8-76 remains the best innings bowling for an Indian bowler in a Test outside India. His match figures of 11-140 were then the best for India outside India, though the record now stands at 12-104 by BS Chandrashekhar against Australia at Melbourne in early 1978. Chandrashekhar would not have minded getting a king pair in that match.
But India did not win that series against New Zealand. The 2nd Test was drawn with India in a weaker position. And the third Test saw the then little-known Richard Hadlee taking 7-23 (and 11-58) in bringing about an innings victory for NZ.
After New Zealand’s 2-0 victory, results of Tests between these teams are summarized below:
New Zealand has now moved into the lead with 15 victories against 13 by the West Indies.
The last victory of WI against NZ was at Port of Spain in Jan 2014. The last victory of WI in NZ was a generation ago, at Wellington in Feb 1995. That is remembered for Walsh’s 13-55.
We now look at individual performances, starting with batting:
Runs scored (750 and above):
The most centuries are 4 by Taylor, and the most scores of 50+ are 10 by Chanderpaul and Gayle. Taylor is the only current player here.
Highest innings (150 and above):
None from the recent series, although Ross Taylor had a 200+ score earlier.
Highest batting averages (Minimum 20 innings, all instances):
Only Taylor from the current players. Relatively few names here because of the relative infrequency of Tests between these teams over the years.
Now for bowling:
Most wickets (30 and above):
Several current players led by Boult and Southee.
Best innings bowling (including all instances of 7wi and above):
Wagner’s feat in the current series is here.
Best match bowling (including all instances of 10wm and above):
Note Walsh’s extraordinary figures. But there are no instances from recent years.
Bowling averages (Minimum 2000 balls, all instances):
Nobody among current players as they have not played enough.
Anyone who was following the Australia-New Zealand ODI on Jun 2 would have been frustrated with the rain delays-particularly when the rain ended play at an intriguing stage. However, you would have witnessed a couple of new records for No-Result ODIs.
Williamson’s 100 was, however, not a record. It is one of 17 centuries made in these ODIs.
Here you can see all scores of 90+ in No-Result ODIs:
The highest is 140 by Jayasuriya back in 1994. A number of current players as well as Indian players have also scored centuries in these matches. For scores in the 90s, we have Maxwell as well as PA Patel. Also note Vengsarkar’s 94* on 31 Oct 1984. If you see the date you should remember what event caused the match to be abandoned.
However, there was a new record in bowling in no-result ODIs.
5wi in No Result ODIs:
Hazlewood’s 6-52 (including the last 3 wickets in one over) are the best bowling in a no-result ODI. The previous record was 5-22 by MN Hart in a tri-series in India in 1994. This was only the 4th instance of a five-wicket haul in these ODIs.
There was also a fielding record.
3 dismissals in an innings in No Result ODIs:
GJ Maxwell became the first non-keeper to take 4 catches in an innings of a no-result ODI. The earlier record was 3 by several players. The record for dismissals by a keeper is 5, shared by Parore and Jones.
So we see that even a rain-ruined game can see new records being made.
Afterthought: there was also one record equalled for all ODIs:
4 catches by non-keepers in all ODIs:
The record for all ODIs is 5 catches by Jonty Rhodes. It has been achieved several times in Tests.
Until yesterday, Younis Khan was the only one to take 4 catches twice. Now he has been joined by GJ Maxwell, as shown above.
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