In a captivating match held at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, New Zealand celebrated a historic Test victory over India. This triumph marked only the third instance in history where New Zealand has managed to win a Test match on Indian soil, with their last victory dating back to 1988. This 36-year interval is notably the second longest stretch New Zealand has experienced without an away win, second only to their 52-year gap prior to their maiden victory in England in 1983.
The significance of this victory is further highlighted as it is only the seventh time in history that a visiting team has successfully chased a target exceeding 100 runs in the fourth innings in India since 2000. For the Indian cricket team, the defeat was a rarity, as it was just the second instance in the last decade where they lost a home Test match after electing to bat first.
Adding to the historical backdrop, the Bengalaru Test also marked the first time since 1987 that India lost two home Test matches to two different teams in a single calendar year. Earlier in the same year, India succumbed to a loss against England in Hyderabad. Comparisons arose with 1987 when India faced defeats from Pakistan and West Indies within the same year.
New Zealand’s approach to the game, with an impressive run rate of 4.29, was the third-highest recorded by a team in a Test against India in India. This relentless offensive strategy mirrored Australia’s record of 4.92 at Wankhede in 2001 and England’s 4.35 earlier this year at Visakhapatnam. On the Indian side, the home squad’s run rate of 4.64, achieved while scoring 462 runs, marked their highest-ever rate in a 450-plus total in Test matches.
The loss in Bengaluru ended a 19-year undefeated streak for India at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, with their last defeat on this ground occurring against Pakistan in March 2005. Statistically, Bengaluru has been India’s Achilles’ heel, resulting in five Test defeats since 1990, a record for a single venue in India.
. The Wankhede Stadium holds the next most defeats for India at home during this period, with four.
Remarkably, India’s third innings score of 462 became the highest total ever for them in a losing Test cause at home, surpassing their previous record of 449 runs at the same venue against Pakistan in 2005. Compounding the unlikelihood of this defeat was that an entire day’s play was washed out due to rain, making this only the second such incident for India, the first being the Kolkata Test against West Indies in 1966.
New Zealand chalked up an impressive 356-run lead in the first innings, setting new records against India. This surpassed their prior highest lead of 314 runs at Napier in 2009. Additionally, the 356 runs stand as the fifth-largest first-innings lead by any team against India on Indian soil, ranking closely after their subcontinent record lead of 363 runs against Bangladesh in Chattogram in 2004.
From a statistical anomaly perspective, India’s turnaround from 46 in the first innings to 462 in their second innings represented just the second time in history where a team improved from its first to second innings by more than tenfold. This feat draws parallel to South Africa’s performance against England in Birmingham in 1924.
In terms of individual player performances, the batter failures resulted in seven Indian players registering ducks, marking the joint second-highest number of ducks for India in a Test match. This statistic was matched by India’s performance against England in the 1952 Leeds Test, while the record is held by Australia’s eight ducks against England at Old Trafford in 1888.
The spinners for both teams had an economy rate of 4.93, the second-highest in a Test match where 600 or more balls were bowled by spinners, since the Pakistan versus India Test in Lahore 2006, where the rate was 5.13. Notably, India’s spinners recorded an economy rate of 4.83, marking their second-highest on home soil with 300-plus balls delivered, succeeded only by their 5.60 against South Africa in Centurion in 2010.
A significant contribution to New Zealand’s victory came from William O’Rourke, whose figures of 7/114 set a record for a New Zealand bowler on debut in India, surpassing Dayle Hadlee’s performance in 1969. Moreover, New Zealand’s pace attack took 17 wickets, the highest by a visiting fast bowling unit in India since South Africa’s 19 wickets in Ahmedabad 2008.