Top Spells by Indian Bowlers in ODIs in New Zealand

Anil Kumble’s 5-33 the highlight as we look at the top spells by Indian bowlers against New Zealand in ODIs in New Zealand.

New Zealand has traditionally been a hunting ground for fast bowlers. The main reason for that has been the pace and swinging nature of the pitches. Not only New Zealand but also the touring teams have produced some phenomenal bowling performances in New Zealand.

Naturally, the question arises on which are the top bowling performances by Indian bowlers in New Zealand. So, let’s identify the top 3 spells by Indian bowlers in ODIs in New Zealand.

Methodology:

To calculate the performance points, we have considered the overall aspect of the game. This includes total wickets taken, better economy rate, maidens bowled and the man of the match points.

We also tried to leave out the biases and perception as we kept things simple by comparing the performance points of different spells.

#3: 3 for 13 by Javagal Srinath

In what is of the most exciting matches in New Zealand, Javagal Srinath produced a magical spell that helped India win an exciting match by one wicket. Batting first, New Zealand openers started slowly as they added only 26 runs for the 1^st wicket after 9 overs. In his first spell, Javagal Srinath had superb bowling figures of 4-1-3-0.

Brought back in the second spell, Javagal Srinath broke the 3^rd wicket partnership between Sinclair and Cairns as he produced a scorcher that ripped apart Sinclair’s stumps. In the subsequent over, Srinath got rid of Chris Cairns with a beautiful delivery. Srinath had figures of 7-1-10-2 until then.

Srinath was bought back into the attack for his third and final spell in the 40^th over. He gave away just 3 runs in 3 overs, and took an important wicket. Overall, Javagal Srinath finished with impressive and economical figures of 10-2-13-3. India won the match by 1 wicket as Virender Sehwag smashed a fantastic century.

Javagal Srinath gets a total of 179 performance points for his spell.

#2: 4 for 23 by Javagal Srinath

In what has been India’s and Javagal Srinath’s best bowling performance in New Zealand, Srinath produced one of the fieriest spells on December 26^th, 2002. 

Batting first, Indian batsmen looked clueless against the swing of Bond, Oram and Mills as they kept losing wickets after wickets at regular intervals. In the end, India were bundled out for a mediocre score of 108.

Javagal Srinath bowled with all fire and vigor right from the start as he got rid of Astle in only his first over. Srinath finished his first spell with bowling figures of 5-1-14-1.

After his first spell, It looked as if New Zealand would win the game easily as they kept scoring runs at a steady pace, however, Javagal Srinath was once again bought back into the attack in the 18^th over, where he took two important wickets to keep India in the match. 

As Mills and Oram started building a healthy partnership for the 7^th wicket, Srinath was once again brought back into the attack. After that, he immediately got rid of dangerous Mills.

In the end, New Zealand chased the target with 3 wickets remaining. If not for Srinath’s important 4 wickets, this chase would have looked like a cakewalk for the kiwis. With a slightly competitive score, this spell would have been a match-winning one.

Javagal Srinath gets a total of 189 performance points for his spell.

#1: 5 for 33 by Anil Kumble

New Zealand has traditionally produced pitches suited for fast bowling. However, there was this one odd magnificent bowling performance by Anil Kumble in 1994 which saw India win a close match against New Zealand.

Batting first, India were steady with their approach as they kept scoring runs at a steady pace throughout the innings. In the end, India managed to score a respectable score of 255/5 in 50 overs.  

Coming to the chase, Anil Kumble looked ominous right from the start as he kept taking important wickets at regular intervals. He was instrumental in taking crucial wickets of Harris, Hartland, Thomson, and Parore, who scored the bulk of the runs for New Zealand.

In the end, New Zealand fell short of the target by 12 runs. Anil Kumble got the man of the match for his phenomenal bowling performance of 10-0-33-5.

Anil Kumble gets a total of 229 performance points for his spell.

Thanks for reading! Which spell did you like the most? Please, let’s know in the comments. 

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ALSO READ: Top Knocks by Indian Batsmen in ODIs in New Zealand

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