India's 5 highest run-scorers against New Zealand in ODIs ft. Virat Kohli

The entire cricketing world will be watching with bated breath as India and New Zealand lock horns in the first semi-final of the 2023 Men's Cricket World Cup on Wednesday, November 15, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Despite the team being invincible in the group stage of the tournament, dominating every opponent they've faced, Indian fans will be worried about the prospect of taking on Kane Williamson's New Zealand side. The Black Caps have proven to be a bogey team for India and have a history of peaking in big games like this.

India will need to be at the top of their game to come out with a win and reach the final. On what should be a high-scoring venue, runs will be in high demand. India have seen some greats of the game play some brilliant knocks against New Zealand in the past.

On that note, let's look at India's top five run-scorers against New Zealand in ODIs.

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#5 Sourav Ganguly - 1079 runs in 32 matches

Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly is India's fifth-highest run-scorer against New Zealand in ODI cricket. The southpaw accumulated 1079 runs against the Black Caps in 31 innings, scoring three centuries and six half-centuries.

His highest score against the Kiwis is 153*, which he made in a match where he pretty much single-handedly won it for India. The year was 1999 and India met New Zealand at Gwalior in the third ODI of a five-match series.

India won the toss and chose to bat first, but it was a string of failures for pretty much every batter not named Sourav Ganguly. India were struggling at 142/5 in 38.3 overs when Robin Singh strode out to the middle to join Ganguly, and together, the duo took India to a total of 261/5 in 50 overs.

Ganguly carried his bat, making a mammoth 150-ball 153, with India eventually winning the game by 14 runs.

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#4 Mohammad Azharuddin - 1118 runs in 40 matches

Azharuddin's 108* saw him score runs at a pace unheard of in that time!

Another former Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin also loved to spend time in the middle against New Zealand, scoring a whopping 1118 runs in 40 matches against them, making seven half-centuries and one hundred.

That solitary hundred came in the fourth ODI of New Zealand's 1988/89 tour of India. Opting to bat first after winning the toss, New Zealand posted a total of 278/3 on the board after a solid batting display led by captain John Wright.

In reply, Sanjay Manjrekar's half-century helped India recover from a wobbly start, but soon they were reduced to 133/5. However, Azhar and Ajay Sharma stitched together a crucial 127-run partnership to keep India in the match, and despite some late drama, Azharuddin saw India home, playing a blistering 65-ball 108, at a strike rate of 166.15 - numbers unheard of in that age.

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#3 Virender Sehwag - 1157 runs in 23 matches

Swashbuckling opener Virender Sehwag is India's third-highest ODI run-scorer against New Zealand, and he only needed 23 matches to get this high up the rankings. Sehwag smashed 1157 runs in that short span of matches, averaging over 50 and scoring at a strike rate of over 100. He made six hundreds and three half-centuries, with a high score of 130.

That 130 came in a group-stage fixture of the 2003 TVS Cup. Batting first, India made 353/5 riding on hundreds from openers Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, with Rahul Dravid also chipping in with a pacy 22-ball fifty. India eventually won by 145 runs, with Sehwag winning the Player of the Match award.

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#2 Virat Kohli - 1528 runs in 30 matches

We don't have to look too far to find the last time Kohli enjoyed a run out in the middle against New Zealand. The current highest run-scorer at the 2023 Men's Cricket World Cup masterfully led India's chase, making a 104-ball 95, falling agonizingly short of a hundred.

Overall, Kohli has made 1528 runs in 30 matches, averaging a stellar 56.59. His highest score against the Black Caps is 154*, which he made in another successful run-chase against them in 2016. That's one of five centuries that Kohli has scored against New Zealand, and he'd love to add to that list on Wednesday in India's all-important semi-final clash against the same opponent.

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#1 Sachin Tendulkar - 1750 runs in 42 matches

Sachin Tendulkar (left) and Rahul Dravid (right) dismantled the NZ bowling attack.

Unsurprisingly, Sachin Tendulkar tops this statistic like he does when it comes to India or even world cricket for that matter. In 42 ODIs against New Zealand, Sachin has played many memorable knocks, averaging 46.05 and scoring five centuries and eight half-centuries.

His best is undoubtedly his 186* in November 1999, where along with Rahul Dravid, Sachin helped India bat the Kiwis out of the game.

Sachin made a 150-ball 186, stitching together a 331-run partnership with Rahul Dravid (153 off 153) in the process to take India to a total of 377/2 in 50 overs. Had he faced a few more deliveries, we would've seen the first ODI double-hundred being scored a decade before it actually was done.