With big hitters in abundance in both teams, India-New Zealand One Day matches have never been short of entertainment. India and New Zealand played against each other for the first time in limited overs cricket in 1975 in a World Cup match.
The two have played each other 93 times in ODIs thus far, with India emerging victorious in 46 matches and New Zealand 41.
New Zealand boasted the likes of Glenn Turner, Chris Cairns, Chris Harris, Nathan Astle, Brendon McCullum and Corey Anderson all of whom had their period of form against India, while India were not bad themselves with the likes of Sachin, Sourav and Dravid always scoring big against the Kiwis.
Let us take a look through the list of highest totals between these two nations, which may be broken in the upcoming series, with fast paced wickets to be on offer.
#1 New Zealand - 349/9 (Rajkot - Nov, 1999)
A Nathan Astle 120 guided the Kiwis to their highest total against India in Rajkot in 1999. India had a bowling attack comprising of Srinath, Prasad, Kumble, Bharadwaj and Nikhil Chopra.
Opener Craig Spearman started the fireworks by blasting a 44 ball 68 with 15 hits to the fence, before Astle and Roger Twose combined for a 109 partnership that formed the backbone of New Zealand's run feast.
Harris and Adam Parore gave the final impetus to an already monumental total with big hits.
Though Ajay Jadeja made a fight out of the game, Astle, the centurion, turned out to be India's nemesis on the day as he had Jadeja off his bowling for 97. Astle picked up the wickets of Dravid and MSK Prasad, to fizzle out the chase.
#2 New Zealand - 348/8 (Nagpur - Nov, 1995)
Astle was once again at the helm of New Zealand’s impressive batting performance. A 128-ball 114 against an attack of Venkatesh Prasad, Manoj Prabhakar, Javagal Srinath, Ashish Kapoor and Kumble led Kiwis to a more than formidable total. A young Astle hit 12 fours and a six on his way to a brilliant hundred.
Martin Crowe and Stephen Fleming made 60s to pile on the misery on India's bowlers.
Interestingly, Ajay Jadeja was once again the thorn in the Kiwis attempt to hog the chase as he compiled a quick fire 61in 45 balls before Gavin Larsen had him stumped. The dismissal fizzed out India's chase and they were bowled out for 249 to give the Kiwis a massive 99-run win.
The match was also tragic as 9 spectators died when a portion of the stadium crumbled.
#3 India - 353/5 (Hyderabad - Nov, 2003)
India's dynamic openers, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar strung together an 182-run opening stand, before Rahul Dravid smacked a 22-ball 50 to plunder the Kiwi attack. Sachin made a 91-ball 102 and Sehwag hit a 134-ball 130 as the New Zealand attack including Tuffey, Oram, Cairns, Harris, Styris and Vettori looked clueless.
(Video Courtesy: Cricket Classics YouTube Channel)
Sehwag and Sachin, on the back of a terrific World Cup outing in South Africa, enjoyed a great pitch and both of them looked in sublime form. The final total of 353 was however reached courtesy of Dravid's scintillating hitting in the death overs.
The chase never looked on as Zaheer, Agarkar, Murali Kartik and Kumble chipped away at the New Zealand batting line-up to bowl them out for a paltry 208.
#4 India - 376/2 (Hyderabad - Nov, 1999)
Tendulkar's and Dravid's 150+ scores were the spine behind India's huge total of 376 in the 2nd ODI of New Zealand's tour of India in 1999. After Ganguly was dismissed in the 2nd over, India did not lose a wicket until the 48th over as Dravid and Tendulkar compiled a 331 run stand, the highest partnership in ODIs at the time.
It still stands at second place in the list of highest partnership for any wicket in ODIs.
(Video Courtesy: Cricket Highlights YouTube Channel)
Tendulkar hit a 150-ball 186, his highest ODI score at the time, with 3 sixes and 20 fours. Dravid was equal to the task as he himself made a-run-a-ball 153 with 15 fours and 2 sixes.
None of the Kiwi batsmen could offer any resistance as they were bowled out for 202 resulting in a massive 174 run loss.
#5 India - 392/4 (Christchurch - Mar, 2009)
Tendulkar was once again the architect behind India's highest total in ODIs against Kiwis. Sachin hit a 133-ball 163 with 5 sixes against the likes of Tim Southee, Ian Butler, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram and Jeetan Patel. He was given company by Yuvraj who made merry on a ground with short boundaries, and made a 60-ball 87 with 6 sixes.
(Video Courtesy: Darting Eagles YouTube Channel)
Dhoni with a quick 68 and Raina gave the final push to the total. Raina hit five huge sixes in an 18-ball 38. The short boundaries were fully utilised by the Indians, who hit a total of 18 maximums in the game.
Poor fielding and catching allowed New Zealand climb slowly back into the game with Ryder making an 80-ball 105. When the first wicket fell, the Kiwis and already reached 166 in 22 overs. Despite Kyle Mills giving a scare with a 32-ball 54 at the end, New Zealand fell 58 short of a huge score.
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