India vs New Zealand Head to Head in T20Is, Match Records and Facts

The Super 10 stage of the ICC T20 World Cup starts on Tuesday, March 15 at Nagpur with hosts India taking on the mighty Kiwis in the opening match. India, the number 1 ranked team in the T20I format, will face an opponent they have never beaten in this format. When India won the tournament back in 2007, New Zealand was the only team that beat India in that tournament.

Apart from that encounter, there have been four more matches between the two. New Zealand has won 4 of the five encounters and the other one has yielded no result. The stats are given below

India v New Zealand T20 head to head match results
#	Winner	Margin	Venue	Date
6th T20I	New Zealand	47 runs	Nagpur	15 Mar 2016
5th T20I	New Zealand	1 run	Chennai	11 Sept 2012
4th T20I	No Result	---	Vizag	8 Sept 2012
3rd T20I	New Zealand	5 wkts	Well'ton	27 Feb 2009
2nd T20I	New Zealand	7 wkts	C'church	25 Feb 2009
1st T20I	New Zealand	10 runs	Jo'burg	16 Sep 2007

1. ICC World T20 2007, Super-Eight match at Johannesburg:

India’s first super-eight game in the 2007 edition was against the Kiwis. India winning the toss chose to field first. Quick-fire knocks from Brendon McCullum, Craig McMillan and a late onslaught from Jacob Oram helped New Zealand post a huge total of 190 on the board. India while chasing started well. They posted 76 in the first six overs and the chase was truly on. However, New Zealand’s premier left-arm spinner had other ideas. Daniel Vettori came to bowl and literally turned the match on its head with a match-winning spell. Vettori took 4 key wickets at the expense of 20 runs and helped New Zealand win the game by 10 runs.

Brief scores: New Zealand 190 in 20 overs [Brendon McCullum 45(31), Craig McMillan 44(23), Jacob Oram 35(15); RP Singh 4-0-29-2, Harbhajan Singh 4-0-24-2] beat India 180 for 9 in 20 overs [Gautam Gambhir 51(33), Virender Sehwag 40(17); Daniel Vettori 4-020-4] by 10 runs.

2. India tour of New Zealand 2008-09, 1st T20I at Christchurch:

India’s tour of New Zealand in 2009 started with a T20I series. India had a memorable tour as they won both the one-day and the test-match series. But in the shortest format of the game, the kiwis outsmarted India once again. In the first T20I, New Zealand won the toss and put India to bat. The visitors responded with a decent total of 162 with Suresh Raina scoring an unbeaten 63. While chasing, New Zealand had initial hiccups but recovered well to chase the total in 19 overs. Brendon McCullum scored a half-century to guide the hosts home.

Brief scores: India 162 for 8 in 20 overs [Virender Sehwag 26(10), Suresh Raina 61(43)*; Ian Butler 4-0-29-2] lost to New Zealand 166 for 3 in 18.5 overs [Brendon McCullum 56(49)*, Martin Guptill 41(28), Ross Taylor 31(20), Jacob Oram 29 (15); Zaheer Khan 4-0-20-1, Harbhajan Singh 4-0-19-1] by seven wickets.

3. India tour of New Zealand 2008-09, 2nd T20I at Wellington:

The second match of the series was a do-or-die game for India. Once again they were put into bat and this time, India managed to post 149 on the board courtesy of Yuvraj Singh’s fifty. Indian bowlers bowled well but their efforts fell short as New Zealand chased the total on the last delivery of their innings. New Zealand required 12 runs off the last over and it was Brendon McCullum once again who won the game for the hosts.

Brief scores: India 149 for 6 in 20 overs [Yuvraj Singh 50(34); Iain O’Brien 4-0-30-2] lost to New Zealand 150 for 5 in 20 overs [Brendon McCullum 69(55)*; IrfanPathan 4-0-41-2] by five wickets.

4. New Zealand tour India 2012, 2nd T20I at Chennai:

The first T20I of the series was washed out as the two teams met in Chennai for the series decider. All eyes were on Yuvraj Singh, who was making a return to the International Cricket after a heroic battle with cancer. India put New Zealand to bat and once again they became a victim of McCullum’s blitzkrieg as he smashed 91 from 55 balls and helped New Zealand post a total of 167. India while chasing required only 48 runs from 40 balls as the skipper, MS Dhoni had walked out. Surprisingly, India fell short by a single run and Dhoni remained not out 22 from 23 balls. It surely was an uncharacteristic knock from the best finisher in the business.

Brief scores: New Zealand 167 for 5 in 20 overs [Brendon McCullum 91(55); IrfanPathan 4-0-31-3] beat India 166 for 4 in 20 overs [ViratKohli 70(41), Yuvraj Singh 34(36); Kyle Mills 3-0-17-2, James Franklin 4-0-26-2] by one run.

So for India, they would dearly love to break the jinx this time around in the T20 World Cup. The Black Caps have a formidable team this time too but they will dearly miss the services of their former skipper Brendon McCullum, who recently retired from all forms of the game.