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After almost two years of gruelling Test cricket, two worthy opponents, India and New Zealand, will lock horns in the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) final in Southampton on Friday.
While India enter the final after topping the WTC points table, New Zealand arrive in the contest as the top-ranked Test side after completing a series win in England.
Over the 46 years of history of ICC tournaments across formats, India and New Zealand have clashed 13 times, with the former managing only three wins. In ICC matches played in England, India have never beaten New Zealand.
However, Test cricket at a neutral venue presents a different challenge altogether. Though the momentum is with New Zealand, India have been the better cricket side over large swathes of the last decade.
Ahead of the marquee clash, let’s look at all the meetings between India and New Zealand across formats in ICC tournaments.
India vs New Zealand in ICC tournaments
#1 Group Match, 1975 World Cup | Manchester, England
This match was a virtual quarter-final. Both teams had to win to make their way to the semi-finals of the inaugural World Cup.
Electing to bat first, India were six down for 101 before Syed Abid Ali counterattacked and got India a decent total. New Zealand were in a spot of bother, but their charge was led by their defiant captain Glenn Turner, who smashed an unbeaten hundred to see his team through.
New Zealand’s journey in the tournament eventually ended in the semi-final against the mighty West Indies.
Brief scores
India 230 (60) [Syed Abid Ali 70 (98); Brian McKechnie 3/49] lost to New Zealand 233 for 6 (58.5) [Glenn Turner 114 (117)*] by four wickets,
#2 Group Match, 1979 World Cup | Leeds, England
Four years after their first clash in an ICC event, India tussled with New Zealand at Leeds.
On a pitch conducive to pace bowling, New Zealand sent India into bat. Batting for almost three hours, Sunil Gavaskar snailed his way to a fifty, while late charges from Brijesh Patel, Karsan Ghavri and Kapil Dev helped the side to 182. New Zealand romped home in a comfortable chase.
India lost all three matches in the 1979 World Cup, whereas New Zealand’s campaign once again ended in the semi-final, where they lost to England.
Brief scores
India 182 (55.5) [Sunil Gavaskar 55 (170); Lance Cairns 3/36, Brian McKechnie 3/24] lost to New Zealand 183 for 2 (57) [John Wright 48 (94), Bruce Edgar 84 (167)*, Glenn Turner 43 (76)*] by eight wickets.
#3 Group Match, 1987 World Cup | Bengaluru, India
India were the defending world champions and strong contenders, playing at home. The pitch had variable bounce, and the conditions were not easy to bat early on as New Zealand asked India to bat first.
Navjot Sidhu kept India in the game despite wickets tumbling around him. A late charge by captain Kapil Dev and wicketkeeper Kiran More helped India to 252. New Zealand started well but lost too many wickets in the middle overs to fall 16 runs short.
Brief scores
India 252 for 7 (50) [Navjot Sidhu 75 (71), Kapil Dev 72 (58)*, Kiran More 42 (26)*; Dipak Patel 3/36] beat New Zealand 236 for 8 (50) [Ken Rutherford 75 (95), Andrew Jones 64 (86); Bruce Edgar 84 (167)*, Glenn Turner 43 (76)*] by 16 runs.
#4 Group Match, 1987 World Cup | Nagpur, India
This was an iconic match for more than one reason. Pacer Chetan Sharma became the first cricketer to claim a World Cup hat-trick. He also became the first Indian to achieve the feat in international cricket.
Later, India clobbered the New Zealand bowlers all around the park. Gavaskar had the most Test hundreds at that point in time, but he was yet to score one in ODIs. In what turned out to be the penultimate game of his career, the Little Master slammed his maiden ODI hundred to help India to a nine-wicket win.
New Zealand’s tournament ended in the group stage, while India lost to England in the semi-final.
Brief scores
New Zealand 221 for 9 (50) [Dipak Patel 40 (51); Chetan Sharma 3/51] lost to India 224 for 1 (32.1) [Kris Srikkanth 75 (58), Sunil Gavaskar 103 (88)*, Mohammad Azharuddin 41 (51)*] by nine wickets.
#5 League Match, 1992 World Cup | Dunedin, New Zealand
With the prospect of rain looming, India elected to bat first and managed a competitive total of 230. The in-form New Zealand were led by Mark Greatbatch's brilliance with the bat. They did suffer some jitters towards the end but managed to pull off a record sixth consecutive win in the tournament. The loss ended India’s chances of advancing in the World Cup.
New Zealand, who topped the league stage with seven wins in eight matches, were knocked out by Pakistan, for whom Inzamam-ul-Haq’s brilliance took them to the final.
Brief scores:
India 230 for 6 (50) [Mohammad Azharuddin 55 (98), Sachin Tendulkar 84 (107); Chris Harris 3/55] lost to New Zealand 231 for 6 (47.1) [Mark Greatbatch 73 (77), Andrew Jones 67 (107); Manoj Prabhakar 3/46) by four wickets.
#6 Super Six Match, 1999 World Cup | Nottingham, England
India had no chance to advance to the semi-finals after losing their Super-Six game to Australia. New Zealand had to win to advance.
India elected to bat on a conducive surface but managed only 251. New Zealand remained cautious throughout their chase before the gritty Bevanesque Roger Twose saw them through.
Once again, New Zealand’s World Cup journey met ended in the semi-final as they were rolled out by the Pakistan juggernaut.
Brief scores
India 251 for 6 (50) [Ajay Jadeja 76 (103)] lost to New Zealand 253 for 5 (48.2) [Matt Horne 76 (116), Roger Twose 60 (77)*] by five wickets.
#7 Final, 2000 Champions Trophy | Nairobi, Kenya
The outcome of the 2000 Champions Trophy final was a massive heartbreak for Indian fans. Those were tough times for the sport in the aftermath of a match-fixing saga.
Under new captain Sourav Ganguly, India arrived in Nairobi with a young side. Surprising everyone with their refreshing positive brand of cricket, India beat a strong Australia side in the quarter-final, South Africa in the semis and dominated most of the final against New Zealand.
New Zealand sent India to bat, and the latter made them pay. Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly stitched a 141-run stand before a horrendous mix-up saw the former back in the pavilion.
The Indian captain slammed his second hundred in a row but fell in the 43rd over. After Ganguly's dismissal, India managed only 44 runs off the last 45 balls, losing four wickets despite looking good for 300.
Chasing 265 for victory, New Zealand showed urgency in their chase but kept losing wickets at regular intervals. They lost half their side in the 24th over, with another 133 runs to get.
But despite returning from an injury, Chris Cairns played one of the finest ODI innings of his career to guide New Zealand to their most significant win. He found able support in Chris Harris. To date, that Champions Trophy win remains New Zealand’s greatest achievement on the world stage. The WTC final would be their chance to change that, though.
Brief scores
India 264 for 6 (50) [Sourav Ganguly 117 (130), Sachin Tendulkar 69 (83)] lost to New Zealand 265 for 6 (49.4) [Chris Cairns 102 (113)*, Chris Harris 46 (72); Venkatesh Prasad 3/27) by four wickets.
#8 Super Six Match, 2003 World Cup | Centurion, South Africa
India had already qualified for the semifinal, but there was a lot to play for. Less than two months ago, they were humiliated in New Zealand, losing the Test series 0-2 and the ODI series 2-5.
India had a point to prove. After sending New Zealand to bat first, India had them at 96 for seven at one stage before the tail wagered. The Kiwis eventually managed 146, with Zaheer Khan getting a four-for.
A fiery spell from Shane Bond saw the back of Virender Sehwag, Tendulkar and Ganguly inside five overs, but there was no more drama as Rahul Dravid and Mohammad Kaif saw India through.
This was India’s seventh victory on the trot. Their dream run came to an end in the tournament final against Australia, though.
Brief scores
New Zealand 146 (45.1) [Zaheer Khan 4/42] lost to India 150 for 3 (40.4) [Mohammad Kaif 68 (129)*, Rahul Dravid 53 (89)*] by seven wickets.
#9 2nd Round Group Match, 2007 T20 World Cup | Johannesburg, South Africa
A breezy start from Brendon McCullum and a good finish from Craig McMillan and Jacob Oram helped New Zealand to a strong total. Had their innings not seen as many as four run-outs, the New Zealand total would have crossed 200.
Led by Virender Sehwag, the Indian openers went ballistic, getting 76 in the powerplay. India lost the plot after the departure of Gautam Gambhir. as captain Daniel Vettori spun a web around the Indians, getting four wickets to help New Zealand to a ten-run victory.
The defeat against New Zealand was India’s only loss in the tournament. Eight days later, India beat Pakistan at the same venue to win the inaugural T20 World Cup.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 190 (20) [Brendon McCullum 45 (31), Craig McMillan 44 (23), Jacob Oram 35 (15); RP Singh 4/29, Harbhajan Singh 4/22] beat India 180 for 9 (20) [Gautam Gambhir 51 (33), Virender Sehwag 40 (17); Daniel Vettori 4/20) by 10 runs.
#10 Super Ten, 2016 T20 World Cup | Nagpur, India
New Zealand stunned a capacity Nagpur crowd by humbling India with spin. The Kane Williamson-led New Zealand outfit took a bold call to bench Trent Boult and Tim Southee and went ahead with three spinners. The ploy worked, as the Indian batters struggled to chase down 127, getting bowled out for a meagre 79.
Both teams ended their tournament in the semi-finals, though.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 126 for 7 (20) [Corey Anderson 34 (42)] beat India 79 (18.1) [MS Dhoni 30 (30); Nathan McCullum 2/15, Mitchell Santner 4/11, Ish Sodhi 3/18] by 47 runs.
#11 Semi-final, 2019 World Cup | Manchester, England
The India-New Zealand league match in Nottingham was a washout. Topping the league stage, India were firm favourites to win this game. New Zealand were 211 for six when rain stopped play, and the reserve day came into play. A resilient knock from Ross Taylor guided the Kiwis to a competitive total of 239.
New Zealand's swing bowlers got into the act and reduced India to 24 for four after ten overs. Matt Henry dismissed the in-form Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, while Trent Boult removed Virat Kohli. Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya kept India in the chase before the MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja partnership began changing the momentum of the game.
Jadeja and Dhoni fell in a span of four balls, though, which sealed India’s fate. Dhoni was dismissed courtesy of a brilliant Martin Guptill-direct hit from the boundary. That happened to be the last match of the legendary captain's international career.
New Zealand tied the World Cup final against England and then tied again in the Super Over only to lose the trophy to the hosts via a controversial boundary-count rule.
Brief scores
New Zealand 239 for 8 (50) [Kane Williamson 67 (95), Ross Taylor 74 (90); Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3/43] beat India 221 (49.3) [MS Dhoni 50 (72), Ravindra Jadeja 77 (59); Matt Henry 3/37] by 18 runs.
#12 1st Test, India tour of New Zealand 2019-20, WTC 2019-21 | Wellington, New Zealand
Winning seven Tests in a row in the WTC, India landed in New Zealand only to be completely outplayed by the hosts. At no point did India looked to be in the contest. The Test witnessed debutant Kyle Jamieson announce himself on the big stage.
Brief scores
India 165 (Ajinkya Rahane 46; Tim Southee 4/49, Kyle Jamieson 4/39) & 191 (Mayank Agarwal 58; Tim Southee 5/61, Trent Boult 4/39) lost to New Zealand 348 (Kane Williamson 89, Ross Taylor 44, Colin de Grandhomme 43, Kyle Jamieson 44; Ishant Sharma 5/68, R Ashwin 3/99) & 9 for 0 by 10 wickets.
#13 2nd Test, India tour of New Zealand 2019-20, WTC 2019-21 | Christchurch, New Zealand
India presented a slightly improved showing in the first innings in the Christchurch Test. The visitors even managed a slender seven-run lead. However, a shambolic second innings outing saw them squander the advantage as India suffered a 0-2 series loss.
The 0-2 result in New Zealand remains the only series India didn't win in the WTC. That is a huge psychological advantage for New Zealand ahead of the WTC summit clash starting Friday.
Brief scores
India 242 (Prithvi Shaw 54, Cheteshwar Pujara 54, Hanuma Vihari 55; Kyle Jamieson 5/45) & 124 (Tim Southee 3/36, Trent Boult 4/24) lost to New Zealand 235 (Tom Latham 52, Kyle Jamieson 49; Jasprit Bumrah 3/62, Mohammed Shami 4/81) & 132 for 3 (Tom Latham 52, Tom Blundell 55) by seven wickets.
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