The Indian Cricket Team broke the 20-year drought of winning an ICC match against New Zealand. They achieved this feat with a thrilling 4-wicket win at HPCA Stadium, Dharamshala on 22nd October 2023. Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to field first. It was an ideal start for the hosts as Siraj got an early breakthrough dismissing Conway with a superb catch by Shreyas Iyer.
Mohammed Shami was included in the playing XI and dismissed Will Young on his first delivery to leave New Zealand in trouble. Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell showed intent to put pressure on the Indian bowling. At the end of the first 10 overs, New Zealand made 34 for 2. Ravindra Jadeja dropped a sitter to dismiss Rachin Ravindra. Rachin and Mitchell showed intent putting the Indian bowlers especially Kuldeep Yadav under pressure. The Indian fielding was not great as they dropped catches.
Ravindra completed his half-century off 55 deliveries and kept the scoreboard ticking along with Mitchell. Both kept the scoreboard ticking as Mitchell also reached his fifty off 60 deliveries. Ravindra was given out by the umpire but on review, it was overturned to not out as it was hitting the outside leg. Mohammed Shami was introduced into attack and broke the partnership dismissing Ravindra with a simple catch to Shubman Gill at long-on. Mitchell and Ravindra added 159 runs for the 3rd wicket.
The Indian bowlers made a strong comeback in the death overs. Kuldeep Yadav struck to get rid of stand-in captain Tom Latham. Glenn Phillips showed his intent but struggled against disciplined Indian bowling. Kuldeep Yadav got rid of Phillips with a good catch by Rohit Sharma. Phillips and Mitchell added 38 runs for the 5th wicket.
Daryl Mitchell completed his century off 100 deliveries. Mohammed Shami bowled with great control and precision dismissing Mitchell Santer and Matt Henry off successive deliveries. Shami took his 5th wicket getting rid of dangerous Mitchell. Indian bowlers skittled them out for 273 in the allocated 50 overs.
Chasing 274 runs to win, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill got off to a brilliant start putting pressure on New Zealand bowling. Indian captain Rohit took charge with positive intent not allowing them to settle. At the end of the first 10 overs, Indian openers raced away to 63 for 0.
Lockie Ferguson was bought into the attack dismissing Rohit Sharma and taking inside edge onto the stumps. Rohit and Gill added 71 runs for the opening wicket. Ferguson struck dismissing Shubman Gill with a simple catch to Mitchell at third man. Shreyas Iyer looked in fine touch with attacking shots while Virat Kohli also put the bad deliveries away for boundaries.
After a short break due to the weather, the play resumed. Shreyas Iyer was dismissed with a short delivery caught by Conway. Shreyas and Kohli added 52 runs for the 3rd wicket. KL Rahul and Virat Kohli kept the scoreboard ticking hitting boundaries and taking singles. Mitchell Santer got the big wicket of KL Rahul with a review. The umpires gave it not out but on review it was overturned to out. KL Rahul and Kohli added 54 runs for the 4th wicket. Kohli completed his fifty off 60 deliveries.
Suryakumar Yadav was run out after a mix-up with Kohli. Ravindra Jadeja and Kohli kept the scoreboard ticking taking singles and hitting boundaries to keep India on course for a win. Both batters made life easy. Kohli was caught by Glenn Phillips. Kohli and Jadeja added 83 runs for the 6th wicket. Ravindra Jadeja hit the winning runs with a boundary to help India by 4 wickets with 2 overs to spare.
For his figures of 5 for 54 in his 10 overs and death bowling, Mohammed Shami was named the Player of the Match award.
India’s record of winning ICC matches against New Zealand
India won against New Zealand in the 2003 ICC World Cup match at Centurion. Since then, Men in Blue has been struggling off win against Blackcaps in ICC tournaments.
India’s record of winning ICC matches since 2003 was over with a win over New Zealand. MS Dhoni and Co lost their first match against Kiwi in the 2007 ICC World T20, the 2016 ICC World T20 Cup, and the 2021 T20 World Cup.
They then lost to New Zealand in the ICC World Test Championship for the 2019-21 cycle. This was a famous win for Team India as they registered their first-ever win over the Kiwis in the ICC tournament for the last 20 years.
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