India and New Zealand lock horns in Tests for the first time in 1968 and since then they have played some memorable matches. Overall, the teams have clashed against each other on 54 occasions with India winning 18 and 10 going in the favour of Kiwis.
However, New Zealand’s record in India is quite poor and they have managed to win only a couple of Tests. The two great rivals are all set to renew their rivalry once again when the three-match Test series starts on September 22.
So here we are presenting to you five memorable clashes between these two teams:
5. Brabourne Stadium, Bombay, September 1969 (India won by 60 runs)
It is one of the most closely fought encounters between the two teams. Batting first India could score only 156 runs. Ajit Wadekar, who scored 48, was the only batsman to cross the 20-run mark as other Indian batsmen found it tough to play Richard Hadlee and Bevan Congdon. Both the bowlers took three wickets apiece and gave New Zealand a great opportunity to win their first game in India. In reply, New Zealand batsman could not perform very well but managed a healthy lead of 73 runs. Bevan Congdon once again starred for the visitors by scoring 78 runs.
In the second innings, India put up an improved show and scored 260 runs and set New Zealand a tricky target of 187 runs. Then the spin duo of India – Bishan Singh Bedi and Erapalli Prasanna- destroyed the visitors in the second innings and dismissed them for only 127 runs to hand a memorable win. Bedi took six wickets while the remaining four went to Prassana.