New Zealand vs India, 2020: 1st ODI – New Zealand's biggest ODI chase, Ross Taylor’s record hundred, A rare century by India's No.4 and more stats

India suffered their first defeat on New Zealand tour as the home team took 1-0 lead in the 3-match ODI series following a 4-wicket win in Hamilton. Shreyas Iyer’s 107-ball 103 anchored the Indian innings alongside the half-centuries from Virat Kohli (51 off 63) and KL Rahul (88* off 64). India scored more than 90 runs in the last ten overs to finish on 347/4.

New Zealand’s chase began on a good note with Henry Nicholls scoring an 82-ball 78 at the top. However, the 138-run partnership between Ross Taylor and stand-in skipper Tom Latham (69 off 48) turned the game upside down as it came in only 79 deliveries. Taylor, with an unbeaten 84-ball 109, ensured the Blackcaps didn’t mess the chase again.

All the statistical highlights from a high-scoring match between New Zealand and India in Hamilton:

Wides and extras galore:

24 – Number of wides India conceded in this match; the 5th most wides conceded by them in an ODI. This is also the first instance since 2008 that India gave away 20+ wides in an ODI.

Last such instance was against Australia in the 2007 Mumbai ODI where they gave away 26 wides while bowling first. India conceded 29 extras in this match; the most by them in an ODI since the 30 extra runs in the 2014 Kochi ODI against West Indies.

A record chase by New Zealand:

348 – The 348-run chase in this match is New Zealand’s highest successful ODI chase. Their previous highest successful chase was 347 against Australia in 2007 also at Seddon Park.

348 – This 348-run chase is also only 2nd successful 330+ ODI chase for any team against India. Australia chased down 359 in the last year’s Mohali ODI which is still the highest ODI chase by any side against India.

Big totals for India and New Zealand:

347/4 – India’s total of 347/4 is their 2nd highest total on New Zealand soil in the ODI format. The total of 392/4 during the 2009 Christchurch ODI is the highest ODI total for India in New Zealand.

348/6 – The total of 348/6 by New Zealand in this game is their highest ODI total against India at home. This is also the joint 2nd highest ODI against India for the Kiwis behind the 349/9 in the 1999 Rajkot ODI.

India moves past Sri Lanka in an embarrassing list:

422 – The 4-wicket loss against New Zealand is now the 422nd defeat for India in ODI cricket; the most number of ODI losses for any country as they went past Sri Lanka’s 421 defeats in this format.

43 – The 43 wides bowled by both the teams in this match are now the most number of wides in a Men’s ODI game hosted by New Zealand. The previous most was 33 wides during the 1996 Napier ODI between New Zealand and Zimbabwe.

These 43 wides are also most in a Men’s ODI since the 47 wides during the 2007 Mohali ODI between India and Pakistan. In fact, the total of 56 extra runs in this match are the most in a Men’s ODI match since the completion of the 2011 World Cup.

A record hundred by Taylor:

4 – Since his ODI debut in 2006, New Zealand recorded five successful 300+ chases out of which four involved a century from Ross Taylor. He thus became only the 3rd player after Virat Kohli (7) and Jason Roy (5) to score four or more hundreds in successful 300+ ODI chases.

List of records Ross Taylor created with his unbeaten 109

Iyer gets his maiden ODI hundred:

3 – Shreyas Iyer became only the 3rd Indian to score a century in maiden ODI innings on New Zealand soil in Men’s cricket. Rahul Dravid (123*) in 1999 and Virat Kohli (123) in 2014 are the other two players. Unfortunately, all three players ended up on the losing side in the respective matches.

2016 – The last instance of an Indian batsman scoring an away ODI century while batting at No.4 or lower position was Manish Pandey in 2016. He scored an unbeaten 104 against Australia in the Sydney ODI while batting at No.4.

A game for No.4 batsmen:

3 – Only the 3rd time in ODI history that the No.4 batsmen scored centuries in the same game for both teams. The other such instances are – AB de Villiers (SA) and Tatenda Taibu (ZIM) in 2007 Harare ODI and Yuvraj Singh (IND) and Eoin Morgan (ENG) in the 2017 Cuttack ODI.

A tough game for Indian bowlers:

3 – Kuldeep Yadav (84) and Shardul Thakur (80) became only the 3rd Indian bowling pair to concede 80+ runs in an ODI. Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra conceded 88 and 81 runs respectively during the 2009 Rajkot ODI against Sri Lanka while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohit Sharma gave away 106 and 84 runs respectively during the 2015 Mumbai ODI against South Africa.

84 – The 84 runs conceded by Kuldeep Yadav are the most by a spin bowler in an ODI on New Zealand soil. The previous most was 78 runs apiece by Anil Kumble in the 1999 Christchurch ODI against the hosts and Ish Sodhi in the 2018 Christchurch ODI against England.

A new opening pair for India:

5 – Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw became only the 3rd pair of debutants to open the innings for India in ODI cricket. (Excluding India’s 1st ODI) Dilip Vengsarkar-Parthasarthy Sharma in the 1976 Christchurch ODI also against New Zealand and KL Rahul-Karun Nair pair in the 2016 Harare ODI against Zimbabwe are the other two such Indian pairs.

20y 88d – Prithvi Shaw is now only the 3rd youngest Indian to open the innings on ODI debut in Men’s cricket. Only Virat Kohli (19y 287d vs SL, 2008) and Dilip Vengsarkar (19y 321d vs NZ, 1976) were younger than Prithvi at the time of their ODI debuts where they opened the innings for India.