Remembering India's 5 Most memorable ODI wins in New Zealand soil
Team India are riding really well across all worlds as far as the game of cricket is concerned, with King Kohli and his men have set forth on the daunting task of conquering hitherto hostile environments.
Fresh from ODI and T20I series win in South Africa, India won the T20I series in England and later followed it up with the best part of all of last year, a tied T20I series followed by historic first-time Test and ODI series wins in Australia.
India's latest assignment in the new year now awaits them at New Zealand, as the Kiwis play hosts to the Men in Blue - in a tour featuring eight games: five ODIs and three T20Is. Will Kohli's brigade be able to continue with their rampant exploits from Down Under?
To be honest, India have not won many games in New Zeland soil till date, and the last time they went there for a five-match series back in 2014, they lost 4-0 with the game at Auckland going down to a nerve-racking tie. Let us now take a look at the five most memorable of India's wins in ODIs, in New Zealand (in chronological order).
#1 4th Match, Rothmans Cup Triangular Series at Wellington, March 6th - 1990
Batting first, India could gather just 221 runs as Danny Morrison, Sir Richard Hadlee and Shane Thomson played spoilsport to India's batting plans. While Morrison picked up wickets of Manoj Prabhakar, Dilip Vengsarkar and Kapil Dev, Sir Hadlee took out Ajay Sharma and Narendra Hirwani while at the same time bowling out 9.2 overs and giving away just 27.
Kapil Dev top-scored with 46 runs, as Tendulkar, Prabhakar, and Manjrekar (36 runs each) helped the side post 221 on board before the final wicket fell. It was touted to be an easy win for the hosts, but they really did not see the Indian bowlers coming the way they did.
Prabhakar, Atul Wassan, Hirwani, and Kapil Dev all bowled good, economical spells, while at the same time picked up wickets at crucial junctures. There were two partnerships in the middle overs - between Greatbatch (53) and Rutherford (46) and then between Rutherford and Hadlee (46), but Wassan and Prabhakar combined to break both stands at favorable junctures. While Hadlee thrived at one end, wickets kept falling at the other end and eventually, Hadlee himself fell as the last man, when the score read exactly 220 runs.
India thus won a hotly contested game by 1 run, and Kapil Dev was man-of-the-match for his all-around efforts. He scored 46 runs, but also supplemented that with a good bowling figure of 9.5-1-45-2. It was Kapil who took Hadlee's wicket and won the game for India.