The whole cricketing globe will be watching India and New Zealand square off in the first semi-final of the 2023 Men’s Cricket globe Cup on Wednesday, November 15, at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.
Despite being undefeated in the tournament’s group stage, defeating every opponent they’ve faced, Indian supporters will be concerned about facing Kane Williamson’s New Zealand side. The Black Caps have shown to be a nightmare team for India, peaking in crucial games like this.
To win and go to the final, India would have to be at the very best of their game. Runs will be in great demand on what could be a high-scoring field. In the past, India has witnessed some of the game’s greatest players play some outstanding innings against New Zealand.
Let’s examine India’s top five run scorers in One-Day Internationals versus New Zealand in light of this.
5. Sourav Ganguly – 1079 runs in 32 matches
Sourav Ganguly, a former Indian captain, is India’s fifth-highest ODI run-scorer against New Zealand. In 31 innings against the Black Caps, the southpaw scored 1079 runs, including three century and six half-centuries.
In a match when he nearly single-handedly won it for India, he recorded his best score against the Kiwis, 153*. In 1999, India played New Zealand in the third One-Day International (ODI) in a five-match series at Gwalior.
India won the toss and elected to bat first, but it was a disaster for almost every batter save Sourav Ganguly. India were battling at 142/5 in 38.3 overs when Robin Singh strolled out to join Ganguly, and the pair combined to take India to a score of 261/5 in 50 overs.
Ganguly carried his bat, scoring a remarkable 150-ball 153 to help India win by 14 runs.
4. Mohammad Azharuddin – 1118 runs in 40 matches
Mohammad Azharuddin, another former Indian captain, also enjoyed spending time in the middle against New Zealand, amassing 1118 runs in 40 matches against them, including seven half-centuries and one hundred.
That lone century came in the fourth ODI of New Zealand’s tour of India in 1988/89. After winning the toss and electing to bat first, New Zealand produced a score of 278/3 on the board thanks to a good batting showing led by skipper John Wright.
In response, Sanjay Manjrekar’s half-century aided India’s recovery from a shaky start, but they were quickly reduced to 133/5. Azhar and Ajay Sharma, however, pieced together a crucial 127-run partnership to keep India in the game, and despite some late drama, Azharuddin got India home, playing a scorching 65-ball 108 with a strike rate of 166.15 – statistics unheard of in that era.
3. Virender Sehwag – 1157 runs in 23 matches
Virender Sehwag, India’s swashbuckling opener, is the third-highest ODI run-scorer against New Zealand, and he only needed 23 matches to get there. In that brief stretch of matches, Sehwag hammered 1157 runs, averaging over 50 and scoring at a strike rate of above 100. With a peak score of 130, he made six hundreds and three half-centuries.
That 130 occurred in a TVS Cup group-stage match in 2003. India batted first and reached 353/5 because to hundreds from openers Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, with Rahul Dravid also contributing with a quick 22-ball fifty. India finally won by 145 runs, and Sehwag was named Player of the Match.
2. Virat Kohli – 1528 runs in 30 matches
We don’t have to go far to remember the last time Virat Kohli played in the middle against New Zealand. The current Virat Kohli is the best run-scorer at the 2023 Men’s Cricket World Cup expertly guided India’s pursuit, scoring 95 off 104 balls and falling just short of a century.
In total, Virat Kohli has scored 1528 runs in 30 matches, averaging 56.59. Virat Kohli best performance against the Black Caps is 154*, which he achieved in a victorious run-chase against them in 2016. Virat Kohli has five hundreds against New Zealand, and he’d like to add to that total in India’s crucial semi-final match against the same opponent on Wednesday.
1. Sachin Tendulkar – 1750 runs in 42 matches
Unsurprisingly, Sachin Tendulkar leads this statistic, as he does in India and even in international cricket. Sachin had numerous noteworthy performances in 42 ODIs against New Zealand, averaging 46.05 and hitting five century and eight half-centuries.
His finest performance was certainly his 186* in November 1999, when he and Rahul Dravid helped India knock the Kiwis out of the contest.
Sachin struck a 150-ball 186, putting together a 331-run partnership with Rahul Dravid (153 off 153) to help India reach 377/2 in 50 overs. Had he faced a few more deliveries, the first ODI double-hundred would have been achieved a decade earlier.
