Hyderabad: India and New Zealand are to compete at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium in Dharamsala on Sunday, October 22. The contest will almost decide the first semi-finalist of the World Cup 2023. Both the teams have won four matches racking up eight points as a result but New Zealand are placed at the top position, while India are in second, due to a better net run rate. The winner of the clash in Dharamshala will reach 10 points while the third and fourth-placed teams are on four points currently. In such a situation, the team that wins the Dharamshala match will almost confirm the semi-final berth along with being on top in the points table. However, before the game it is interesting to know the statistics between these two teams when they clashed in the history of the ODI World Cup.
Head to head record in favour of the Blackcaps
India and New Zealand have clashed nine times in World Cup matches since 1975. Out of which New Zealand have won five times whereas Indian side won thrice. Apart from this, one match was cancelled. While both the teams would like to improve their World Cup record in Dharamsala, Men in Blue would like to take revenge for the 2019 semi-final, where New Zealand won the ticket for the final by defeating Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Co.
Ever since the inaugural edition of the ODI Cricket World Cup in 1975, there have been five editions in which these two didn't clash. Both teams faced each other twice in the 1987 and 2019 World Cups. In 1987, team India won both matches, while in 2019, one match was cancelled and the other was won by New Zealand. New Zealand have been dominant against India in the World Cup but both the matches of the 1987 World Cup and the match of the 2003 World Cup were exceptions to the norm. The Kiwis won fixtures played during the 1975, 1979, 1992, 1999 and 2019 World Cups.
253 was the highest total
Times have changed so much that even crossing the 200-run mark in 60-over ODI matches was a challenge once but teams now score 400 runs in a 50-over game. In the ongoing World Cup, South Africa scored 428 runs against Sri Lanka. Also, many teams have touched the score of 300 this time. In the 1999 World Cup, India scored 251 runs in the first innings while New Zealand won the fixture chasing the target and scoring 253 runs. Interestingly, it is still the best team total of both the teams in the World Cup. Whereas in the 2003 World Cup, the Indian team had bundled out the Kiwis for just 146 runs, which is the smallest total in the ODI World Cup between the two teams.