5 worst collapses by New Zealand against India in Tests
New Zealand are not a team that attract a lot of attention, but they always tend to punch above their weights and exceed most expectations. Also, India-New Zealand has always been a close contest. Though the results might not reflect that, the Blackcaps have generally fought hard against India.
Out of the 20 Test series both teams have played against each other, India have won 11, New Zealand have won 5, while 4 of them have ended in a draw. However, the Blackcaps have faltered on quite a few occasions with the bat and have collapsed. Thus, here we look at 5 worst collapses by the Kiwis against India in Test cricket.
#5 159 & 164 – Hyderabad, 2012
In 2012, the Kiwis visited India for a short tour. The tour comprised of 2 Tests and 2 T20Is. This Test series was India’s first series without two of their biggest stalwarts – Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman.
After winning the toss and batting first, India posted 438. Cheteshwar Pujara scored a superb 159 while Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni registered half-centuries. However, Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha spun a web around the New Zealand batsmen as they took 18 wickets in the match to help India register an innings win.
In the first innings, four of New Zealand’s top six got off to starts but none of them could convert them into a big score. Ashwin took 6/31 while Ojha took 3/44, as the Kiwis were dismissed for just 159. With 279 runs in the bank, India opted to enforce the follow-on. A similar pattern followed as Ashwin and Ojha ran riot to help India gain a 1-0 lead.
Ashwin finished with 12 wickets in the game as he took another 6-fer (6/54) in the second innings.