5 worst defeats for New Zealand in ODIs
They have been the eternal underdogs in world cricket for much of their existence as a cricketing nation but that hasn’t stopped them from always punching above their weight. They made it to the semi-finals of the World Cup in only their 2nd attempt back in 1979 and over the years, have become one of the better sides in the game.
They were favourites in 1992 and then again in 2015, but fell short and over the course of the last few decades, the Kiwis have been pretty hard to beat at the biggest stage in ODI cricket. However, like the best cricketing nations in the world, New Zealand have also experienced some real lows in ODI cricket and here is a look at 5 of their most lopsided defeats ever.
#5 203 run loss to the West Indies at Hamilton, 2014
A year prior to the 2014 World Cup at home, New Zealand hosted the West Indies in a 5 match series and were leading 2-1 when the teams headed to Hamilton for the 5th ODI. New Zealand needed to win the game to win the series but their decision to bowl first backfired badly as the visitors put them to the sword on a batting paradise.
Kieran Powell started the carnage with a 44 ball 73 at the top of the order and then an unbeaten 123 (108 balls) from Kirk Edwards, along with a brutal 106 (81 balls) from Dwayne Bravo helped West Indies post a mammoth 363.
Now, it is quite unfair to expect a team to chase down 364 runs but at the same time, the nature of the pitch and the presence of so many big hitters in the Kiwi side meant that they had the wherewithal to have a fair crack at it.
However, New Zealand collapsed in a heap in embarrassing fashion. Jason Holder and Dwayne Bravo removed the top 3 of Martin Guptill, Jesse Ryder and Kane Williamson, while Nikita Miller rocked the middle-order with a superb spell.
From 45 for 2, New Zealand collapsed to 160 all out in 30th over and slumped to one of their biggest losses in ODI history.