New Zealand's 5 highest run-scorers against India in ODIs ft. Kane Williamson
India and New Zealand are all set to lock horns at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday, November 15 in the semifinal the ICC World Cup 2023.
India witnessed a dominating run in the league stage, being the only unbeaten team after the completion of the 45 round-robin fixtures. On the other hand, New Zealand came through a topsy-turvy phase before they beat Sri Lanka by five wickets in Bengaluru to seal the fourth and final semifinal berth.
As the two teams get ready for a repeat of the 2019 World Cup semifinal, let's take a look at five New Zealand batters with the most ODI runs against India.
#5 Martin Guptill - 925 (2009-2020)
Martin Guptill played his first match against India on March 3, 2009, at McLean Park in Napier. He made 64 from 70 balls while batting at No.3 in an unsuccessful chase of 274 runs.
Guptill has scored 925 runs against the Men in Blue in the 50-over format at an average of 28.90. He has seven 50-plus scores with his only century (111) coming in the third ODI of India's tour of New Zealand in 2014. This was the only match between the two sides that ended up in a tie.
Guptill played his last One-Day International against India in February 2020 in Mount Maunganui. He scored 66 in the second innings as the Black Caps won by five wickets and eventually whitewashed India 3-0.
Although the opening batter hasn't retired from international cricket, the decision to opt out of New Zealand Cricket's central contracts in November last year has sidelined him from the white-ball setup.
#4 Kane Williamson - 1078 (2010-2022)
Kane Williamson, interestingly, didn't open his account against India in his first and most recent ODI innings against India, though he remained not out on 0 in the rain-washed game in Christchurch in November 2022.
Since then, he hasn't played against India even though the two sides have clashed on four occasions, including the league phase in the 2023 World Cup in Dharamsala. Williamson's path has been marred with injuries in 2023, as a result of which he has only appeared in six ODIs.
Although he is the designated captain of New Zealand in this World Cup, his presence has been minimal in the playing XI - just three games in the league phase. However, the 33-year-old will look to continue his fine run against the Asian giants when the two sides meet in the first semi-final of the World Cup in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Williamson has amassed 1078 runs in 27 innings against India at an average of 43.12 with the help of nine fifties and one century - 118 in Delhi in October 2016. He has the most runs against the two-time world champions from the current New Zealand squad.
#3 Stephen Fleming - 1098 (1994-2005)
Having retired from international cricket in 2008, Stephen Fleming is still the second-highest run-getter for his country in One-Day Internationals - 8007 runs at 32.41 - only behind Ross Taylor's tally (8607).
Fleming scored 13.71% of his ODI runs (1098) against India, which is the second most against a single opposition by the former New Zealand captain. Interestingly, he never mustered a three-figure score against India in ODIs.
His highest score of 90 came in his debut innings against the Asian side while batting at No.4 in the Napier ODI in 1994. New Zealand won that match by 28 runs.
#2 Nathan Astle - 1207 (1995 - 2005)
Nathan Astle is regarded as one of the finest batters of New Zealand who dominated against the bowlers of his time. Astle scored 7090 runs in 223 ODI matches from 1995 to 2007 in an illustrious career.
The former Kiwi batter scored 1207 runs at an average of 43.10 against India. Astle scored five of his 16 ODI centuries against India, which is also the most by a New Zealand batter against the Asian powerhouse in the longer version of white-ball cricket.
Astle held the highest individual score in ODIs (120) by a New Zealand player against India for 23 years until Tom Latham surpassed it in Auckland in November last year with his match-winning unbeaten 145.
#1 Ross Taylor - 1385 (2009-2020)
On February 5, 2020, Ross Taylor ended Nathan Astle's 14-year-old record of most ODI runs against India by a New Zealand batter. Thanks to his 21st ODI century, the Wellington-born batter went past Astle's tally of 1207 runs in the Hamilton ODI.
It also happens to be Taylor's last ODI series against India. He displayed tremendous form with the bat to propel New Zealand to a 3-0 series win to avenge the whitewash in the T20Is (0-5). Taylor finished the three-match series with 194 runs at an impressive strike rate of 110.22.
He ended his ODI stats against India with 1385 runs at 47.75 with the help of eight half-centuries and three hundreds. His 200-run partnership with Tom Latham is the highest for a visiting pair in India, with the duo being instrumental in the Black Caps successfully completing a 284-run chase in Mumbai in 2017.