After the initial hiccup against Pakistan, a stiff challenge awaits Virat Kohli's brigade as India face New Zealand on Sunday in perhaps the virtual quarterfinal of the T20 World Cup 2021. A 10-wicket defeat to arch-rivals and the end of a near-three-decade supremacy in World Cup history may have dented their morale, but the Indian team is no stranger to comebacks in world cricket.
India will look for a fresh start Group 2 of the Super-12s and improve their record against the Kiwis in major International Council (ICC) events. The Kane Williamson-led side, however, has been a tough opponent for India, with the latest example being the World Test Championship (WTC) final and the 2019 50-over World Cup semi-final.
Head-to-Head record
In the do-or-die battle on October 31, Kohli's men will aim to improve their poor streak against the BlackCaps. New Zealand haven't lost against India since the 2003 World Cup and they boast an impressive head-to-head record with seven wins from 10 matches.
Furthermore, India are yet to beat New Zealand in the T20 World Cup. In both the World T20 meetings between the two sides in 2007 and 2016, the Kiwis have been on the winning end. India, the 2007 T20 World Cup winners, had suffered solitary defeat of their otherwise impressive campaign. The opponents were New Zealand.
In the 2016 edition of the T20 World Cup, the result was no different. Mitchell Santner's four-wicket haul reduced the Indian unit to a meagre 79 while they were chasing a 126-run total in Nagpur. New Zealand also have an upper hand overall in the T20I contests against India, with eight wins in 16 meetings.
Talking about 50-over World Cups, the last fixture against New Zealand was a pitiful memory for India, with MS Dhoni donning the national jersey for the last time and the Men in Blue crashing out of the tournament with an 18-run defeat.
Two out of India's three wins against the Kiwis in the ODI World Cup history came back in 1987 while the most recent one came in 2003. The Sourav Ganguly-led side secured a seven-wicket win in Centurion, with Mohammad Kaif (68*) and Rahul Dravid (53*) taking India past the finish line.
India and New Zealand in World Cups
ODI World Cups
1975 - New Zealand beat India by 4 wickets, Manchester
1979 - New Zealand beat India by 8 wickets, Leeds
1987 - India beat New Zealand by 16 runs, Bangalore
1987 - India beat New Zealand by 9 wickets, Nagpur
1992 - New Zealand beat India by 4 wickets, Dunedin
1999 - New Zealand beat India by 5 wickets, Nottingham
2003 - India beat New Zealand by 7 wickets, Centurion
2019 - New Zealand beat India by 18 runs, Manchester
T20I World Cups
2007 - New Zealand beat India by 10 runs, Johannesburg
2016 - New Zealand beat India by 47 runs, Nagpur
