This is the second time India and New Zealand are set to take on in the British Isles through this ICC World Cup 2019 campaign. The rain had its say in the league stage fixture and now both sides clash in the first semi-final at Old Trafford.
This is the ninth time these two sides will come face to face in the marquee event, the previous one being a washout in the league stage. Surprisingly, the last time played each other was way back in 2003. Overall, the Black Caps have a slight edge over India having beaten them four times out of seven games. They also got the better of Men in Blue in the warm-up match of this World Cup.
Here’s how all the previous seven encounters have panned out:
1975: Glenn Turner turns it in New Zealand’s Favour
The first time these two nations came face to face was in the very first World Cup. The match went down to the penultimate over and it was New Zealand who emerged victorious by six wickets.
India looked down and out at one stage with the scoreboard reading 101 for 6 before Syed Abid Ali played a crucial knock of 70 to lead his team to a total of 230 in 60 overs. He found decent support from the likes of Madan Lal and S Venkataraghavan down the order. In reply, Turner led from the front and scored an unbeaten 114 to lead New Zealand to a victory. Brian Hastings and Ken Wadsworth too chipped in but it was the skipper who turned out to the difference between the two teams.
1979: India no match for New Zealand
The Surinder Khanna-led side bowed down to the likes of Sir Richard Hadlee, Gary Troup, Lance Cairns, Brian McKechnie and Bruce Edgar as New Zealand won the game by eight wickets.
For India, Sunil Gavaskar scored 55 runs but that came off 144 deliveries. Brijesh Patel, Kapil Dev and Karsan Ghavri made decent contributions but could only propel India to 182. After bowlers did their job, Edgar managed to remain unbeaten on 84 and found able allies in John Wright and Turner as New Zealand chased down the target with two overs to spare.
1987: India make it two in two in home conditions
India played New Zealand twice in this World Cup and won both the times.
In Bangalore, Navjot Singh Sidhu and Kapil smashed blistering half centuries, while Kiran More slammed 42* off 26 balls to lead India to 252 for 7 in their 50 overs. In response, New Zealand were 146 for 2 at one stage on the back of Ken Rutherford and Andrew Jones before Maninder Singh and Ravi Shastri brought India back in the game with a couple of quick wickets. The two were economical and all New Zealand could manage in their 50 overs was 236 for 8, falling short by 16 runs.
In Nagpur, it was Gavaskar’s turn to shine. Chasing 222, Gavaskar blasted a breezy unbeaten century – 88-ball 103*. The right-hander hit 10 fours and three sixes during his stay in the middle and found solid support from K Srikkanth (75) and Mohammad Azharuddin (41*). India chased down the total with nine wickets in hand.
1992: New Zealand get their revenge
Playing in Dunedin, it was New Zealand’s turn to return the favour and they did. Sachin Tendulkar’s 84 went in vain as fifties from Mark Greatbatch and Jones gave hosts a four-wicket win. Apart from Tendulkar, Azharuddin scored 55 while Kapil smoked 33 off just 16 deliveries. Manoj Prabhakar did pick up three wickets but the target of 231 was never going to be enough as Greatbatch and Jones got the job done for their team without much of a fuss.
1999: Five-wicket win gives New Zealand a semifinal spot
The Black Caps had to win this game to qualify for the semifinals and they were able to it thanks to Chris Cairns, Matt Horne, Roger Twose and wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Parore
All of India’s top six batsmen got off to good start but not one of them could convert it into a three-figure score. Ajay Jadeja did manage 76 runs but couldn’t provide that firepower in the last few overs. India were restricted to 251 for 6 and Horne and Nathan Astle got New Zealand off to a good start, adding 45 runs for the opening wicket. They did lose a couple of wickets in quick succession but Twose and Horne added 83 runs to dig them out of trouble. Parore then put the finishing touch and got his team over the line.
2003: Zaheer Shines as India Thump New Zealand
The Stephen Fleming-led side once again had to win this game to qualify for the semifinals, but Zaheer Khan along with Ashish Nehra and Javagal Srinath had other ideas.
The left-arm paceman scalped four wickets and with Srinath and Nehra dismantled New Zealand’s batting order. Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag and Dinesh also chipped in with a couple of wickets as New Zealand were bundled out for 146. In response, India were reduced to 21 for 3 before an unbeaten 129-run stand between Mohammad Kaif (68*) and Rahul Dravid (53*) led them to a seven-wicket win.
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