After being down and out in Australia a couple of months ago, New Zealand were everything but favorites going into the T20 series against India in January. The tour was going to be a fairly long one, and the spotlight was on the visiting side all along. The visitors responded in a terrific fashion, cleaning up the Kiwis in a closely contested series white-wash in the shortest form of the game.
The scoreline read 5-0, and it looked as though it was going to be a tour that the Men in Blue would well and truly dominate. The ODI series started not too long after that, and India were looking to continue their rich vein of form into the last 3 white-ball games of the tour. On a placid Hamilton wicket, the visitors put on a mammoth total of 347 in their quota of 50 overs, courtesy a flamboyant maiden ton from young Shreyas Iyer.
An India victory seemed almost inevitable, given the pace bowling arsenal that India possessed. Little did we know what we were going to witness. A bludgeoning opening start by New Zealand, followed by a strong partnership between Latham and Taylor seeing them through. Ross Taylor looked at his ominous best as he hit 109 off 84 balls, a knock that included 10 fours and 4 sixes. New Zealand made a game out of a chase that looked out of their hands at the half-way point. In the end they won comfortably with 11 balls to spare.
It was a beginning of something magical for the hosts; a resurgence that they had been craving for since their series defeat in Australia. Right after that Hamilton ODI, the juggernaut began, and continued. The Black Caps went on to win the One Day series 3-0, beating India comprehensively in all 3 games. This New Zealand side looked like a force to reckon with.
Then came the final frontier of the tour, a way to seal things up for both the sides and prove a point. The first of the two Tests took place in the capital, Wellington. The windy conditions put the hosts in an immense spot of bother as they got bundled out for 165 after being put into bat. The hosts, continuing their form from the white-ball format, took an unassailable lead of 183, then bowling India out cheaply again, and winning the game with 10 wickets to spare.
The Second Test was no different. The famous Indian top and middle order looked tentative and under-performed on a deck that wasn’t all that difficult to bat on. The likes of Kohli, Pujara, Rahane and Pant found it difficult to cope with the moving ball. The Black Caps on the other hand, like their last last 4 International games, continued from where they left off, and beat the No. 1 Test Team with a big margin.
This a terrific sign for New Zealand Cricket. They have stepped up in every facet of the game and look like a terrific team at home. Whether its Latham and Blundell at the top, Williamson and Taylor in the middle, or Boult, Jamieson and Southee with the cherry, all of their guns firing when they needed them the most. Hopefully this lot of players can take New Zealand Cricket in the right direction and go on to become players that we remember for the years to come.
-Vibhor Dubey
The Average Cricketer 