5 worst collapses by New Zealand against India in Tests

#4 124 – Hyderabad, 1988

Narendra Hirwani in action

In 1988, India and New Zealand squared off against each other in a Test match after more than 7 years. Their last series was the Kiwis’ first Test series win over India.

Even in the series in 1988 (which was in India), after India took lead in the first Test, New Zealand hit back with a resounding 172-run victory in the second Test to take the series into the deciding third Test. In the series-deciding Test, the visitors won the toss and elected to bat first in Hyderabad. On the back of an unbeaten 90 from No. 4 Mark Greatbatch, New Zealand posted 254 in their first innings. Sanjeev Sharma took 3 wickets while spinners Narendra Hirwani and Arshad Ayub shared 6 wickets between them.

India, in reply, took a 104-run lead as they scored 358. Kris Srikkanth (69) and Mohammed Azharuddin (81) scored half-centuries and other batsmen got starts as India went past the first innings total of New Zealand.

In the second innings, New Zealand collapsed dramatically as they were bundled out for just 124. They did get a solid start as the openers put on 49 runs for the opening wicket but the other batsmen failed to handle the pressure. Only 3 batsmen reached double figures as Kapil Dev, Arshad Ayub and Narendra Hirwani took 3 wickets apiece. Skipper John Wright was the top-scorer for the Kiwis (62). India then wiped off the 21-run target to take the series 2-1.