New Zealand vs India, 2020: 2nd Test, Day 3 – NZ's series-winning streak at home, A rare century-less series for India and more stats

New Zealand completed a series win against India after they won the Christchurch Test by 7 wickets on the 3rd day of the match itself. India lasted ten overs on the 3rd day morning before they were bowled out for 124 in their 2nd innings. India lost the remaining four wickets for 34 runs in those 10 overs. Chasing 132 to win, the New Zealand openers Tom Latham (52) and Tom Blundell (55) shared a 103-run stand. India then picked three wickets for 18 runs but the target was too little for New Zealand to be threatened.

All the statistical highlights from New Zealand’s victory in the 2-match series against India:

New Zealand’s series streak at home:

6 – New Zealand won each of their last six series in Test cricket at home; a streak that began after losing the 2017 Test series to South Africa by 0-1 margin. New Zealand never won more than four consecutive Test series at home before this streak.

New Zealand’s rare series win over India:

2-0 – Only the 2nd time New Zealand won two matches in a Test series against India. They won the 2-match Test series in 2002 also by 2-0 margin.

India’s losing streak continues:

5 – India now have lost each of their last five matches in International cricket; a streak that began from the ODI series defeat. The last instance of India losing five consecutive International games was during the 2011/12 tour of Australia. India were whitewashed in the 4-match Test series on that tour and lost the first match of the T20I series that followed.

2015 – The last instance of India failing to win a match during a Test series was in the one-off Test against Bangladesh in 2015 which ended in a draw. The last instance of India not winning a match in a multi-game Test series was during the 2014/15 tour of Australia. India lost the 4-match Test series on that tour by 0-2 margin.

A rare century less Test series for India:

2002 – The last instance of India failing to record an individual century in any Test series was back in 2002 during the 2-match Test series also against New Zealand in New Zealand. India had only two individual fifties throughout that series.

No big knocks from India:

24 – Cheteshwar Pujara’s 24 is the highest individual score for India during the 2nd innings of this Test. India’s last instance with a “highest score” lower than 24 during a completed inning in Test cricket was during the 2008 Ahmedabad Test against South Africa where India’s first innings had the highest score of 21*.

India fails to break the opening stand again:

1 – New Zealand shared 50+ opening stands for the first time against India in both innings of a home Test match. They had three such Tests against India on Indian soil.

2013 – The last instance of India conceding fifty-plus opening stands in both the innings of a Test match was back during 2013 Boxing Day Test against South Africa in Durban.

A tough match for the captains:

25 – Kane Williamson (8) and Virat Kohli (17) aggregated 25 runs in this Test match; the fewest match aggregate for captains in a Test match on New Zealand soil. The previous lowest was 31 runs during the 1974 Christchurch Test between New Zealand and Australia. (Where both captains batted twice)

These 25 runs are also the joint-fewest by captains in a Test match between India and New Zealand. During the 1958-59 Test match in Kolkata, the India and New Zealand captains collectively scored 25 runs across four innings.

Worst series for India’s bottom five:

9.75 – India had an average of 9.75 after losing their 5th wicket in this Test series; their worst partnership for 6th to 10th wickets in any Test series. Previous worst was 10.75 during the 2-match series in Bangladesh in 2007. India aggregated 195 runs across 20 partnerships after losing 5th wicket in this series against New Zealand.