New Zealand vs India, 2020: 1st Test, Day 4 – New Zealand’s milestone win, End of India’s winning streak, A rare 10-wicket win for New Zealand and more stats

New Zealand needed less than a session on the fourth day to wrap up the Wellington Test against India and take a 1-0 lead in the 2-match series. Resuming the day on 144/4, India lost their last six wickets for just 47 runs in 16 overs. The overnight batsmen Ajinkya Rahane and Hanuma Vihari collectively scored only four runs.

Rishabh Pant’s 41-ball 25 helped India to escape an innings defeat and set a target of 9 runs. New Zealand needed only 1.4 overs to complete the chase without losing a wicket. This was incidentally India’s first defeat in the ICC World Test Championship after winning their 1st seven.

All the statistical highlights from New Zealand’s 10-wicket win in the Wellington Test match:

New Zealand’s milestone win:

100 – This Test win marked the 100th win in Test cricket for New Zealand making them the 7th team with 100 Test wins. However, they are the slowest to this milestone taking 441 Tests. India were previous slowest to 100 Test wins as they got their landmark win in their 432nd Test.

End of India’s winning streak:

7 – This defeat brought an end to India’s 7-match winning streak in Test cricket; the most consecutive matches India have ever managed to win in this format. In fact, this was India’s first defeat in their last ten Test matches as their last defeat in this format came in Perth in December 2018.

A rare 10-wicket win for New Zealand:

3/5 – Three out of five Test wins by 10-wicket margins for New Zealand came against India in Test cricket. The Blackcaps defeated India by 10 wickets in the 1990 Christchurch Test and in the 2002 Test match also at the Basin Reserve. Their other two 10-wicket Test wins also came in Wellington – against Zimbabwe in 1998 and against West Indies in 2006.

2013 – The last instance of India losing a Test match by 10 wickets was way back in 2013. They were defeated by South Africa in the 2013 Boxing Day Test in Durban.

A record 5-wicket haul for Southee:

10 – Number of 5-wicket hauls in Test cricket for Tim Southee; the joint 4th most by any player for New Zealand. Sir Richard Hadlee (36), Daniel Vettori (20) and Chris Cairns (13) are ahead of Southee in this list while Danny Morrison and Chris Martin also recorded 10 5-fers in this format.

10 – Tim Southee now has ten 5-wicket hauls in International cricket at home; the joint 2nd most 5-fers in Internationals on New Zealand soil. Sir Richard Hadlee had as many as 17 5-fers in Internationals in New Zealand while Danny Morrison and Trent Boult also have ten such hauls.

A rare Test with fewer extras:

3 – This Test between New Zealand and India witnessed only three runs through byes and leg byes – (2 leg byes and 1 bye). These are the 2nd fewest runs through byes and leg byes in a completed match in Test history. The 1958 Test match at the Lord’s between England and New Zealand witnessed only two leg byes.

14 – The 14 extra runs in this Test are fewest in a completed Test on New Zealand soil. The previous fewest were 17 extras during the last year’s Hamilton Test between the hosts and Bangladesh.

These 14 extra runs are also the joint-fewest in a completed Test match in the last 60 years. The 2017 Nagpur Test between India and Sri Lanka also recorded only 14 runs through extras.

A home Test win without a big knock:

89 – Kane Williamson’s 89-run knock in this game is the highest individual score in the match. His 89 is now the 2nd lowest “highest individual score” across the 25 home Test wins for New Zealand since the start of 2007. The previous lowest-highest score for New Zealand in a home Test win during this period was 61 against Pakistan in the 2016 Christchurch Test.