Cricket World Cup History: Reliving the previous World Cup encounters between India and New Zealand

India and New Zealand, two of the only unbeaten teams in the ongoing World Cup 2019 will be squaring off in the 18th match of the tournament at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on June 13th 2019.

Virat Kohli's men will be coming into the game at the back of two comfortable wins, a six-wicket win against South Africa followed by a 36-run victory over defending champions Australia.

New Zealand, similar to India have remained unbeaten and have three wins from three encounters. A massive 10-wicket win over Sri Lanka set their course on track before a thrilling two-wicket win against Bangladesh and a seven-wicket win against Afghanistan sealed a hat-trick of wins for the Kiwis.

With both teams coming into the game with confidence, one could certainly expect a mouth-watering contest. However, in the lead up to the contest, here is a recap of all the encounters between these two countries in World Cup history.

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World Cup 1975: New Zealand beat India by 4 wickets

Ind vs NZ: World Cup 1975

India faced New Zealand for the first time in the first ever World Cup in 1975 at the Old Trafford stadium in England.

India began their innings on a low key, losing Sunil Gavaskar early. Soon, against the fierce spell of Sir Richard Hadlee, the Indian top order was under pressure at 101/6. Syed Abid Ali played the battle of a lone warrior with his 98-ball 70 as India put up 230 on the board.

NZ's pacer McKechnie was their top performer with his 3/49 while Richard Hadlee, Dayle Hadlee and Hedley Howarth chipped in with a couple of wickets each.

Chasing the total of 231, New Zealand was constantly on track, courtesy of skipper Glenn Turner's magnificent 177-ball 114 as the Indian bowlers were taken for plenty. Even though NZ found themselves in a spot of bother at 70-3, the Kiwis had the final say.

World Cup 1979: New Zealand beat India by 8 wickets

Sunil Gavaskar held one end and remained India's top scorer

The second World Cup encounter between these two teams was at Headingley in 1979. New Zealand won the toss and put India in to bat first.

The Indian batting attack looked all at sea against the New Zealand bowling attack as wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals that saw the Venkataraghavan-led side tottering at 107-5. Sunil Gavaskar's 144-ball 55 resistance was the lone spark in India's effort with the bat as McKechnie and Lance Cairns picked up three wickets apiece.

Set an easy target of 183 from 60 overs, John Wright and Bruce Edgar put up a 100-run stand as they led the way for New Zealand's comfortable eight-wicket victory in the end. Edgar remained unbeaten with his 84 and clinched the 'player of the match' award' as Mohinder Amarnath finished as the lone wicket taker for India.

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World Cup 1987: India beat New Zealand by 16 runs

Indian skipper Kapil Dev won the MOM.

India encountered New Zealand for the third time after India's successful journey in the 1983 World Cup. New Zealand won the toss and elected to bowl first in the 1987 World Cup match at Bengaluru.

India yet again had a poor start as both the Indian openers were run out with just 17 runs on the board. NS Sidhu led the way from there on as he scored 75 of 71 and remained India's highest score of the innings. With India struggling at 114/5, Indian skipper Kapil Dev walked in and played a quick fire 58-ball 72 to take India to a formidable total of 252.

Chasing a mammoth total, New Zealand's top performer was Rutherford as he went on to score 75. However, after his dismissal, the Indian spinners spun India back into the game as India claimed their first win over NZ in World Cup history.

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World Cup 1987: India beat New Zealand by nine wickets

Chetan Sharma took the first ever WC hattrick

India and NZ faced each other in 1987 WC for the second time in the span of 17 days and this time at Nagpur. NZ won the toss and elected to bat first.

The move to bat first worked well for New Zealand as the most of the batsmen got off to starts which made the Indian bowlers toil hard in order to pick wickets. Dipak Patel's 40 and a 35 from John Wright setup New Zealand's 221/9 from 50 overs.

India, in reply, were in control of the chase at all times. Sunil Gavaskar went on to score his only ODI century, an 88-ball 103 while Kris Srikkanth's attacking 58-ball 75 laid the platform for an India win. At the fall of Srikkanth, Azharuddin walked in and stroked a 51-ball unbeaten 41 that got India across the line with ease.

World Cup 1992: New Zealand beat India by 4 wickets

India vs NZ, 1992 CWC

New Zealand, the hosts of the World Cup won the toss in this game and invited India to bat first. Kris Srikkanth's dismissal early did not hurt the Indians as skipper Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar came into their element.

Tendulkar scored 84 runs in 107 balls with 6 boundaries and was well supported by the skipper Azharuddin's 98-ball 55 as India put up 230/6 from 50 overs. Chris Harris was the top performer for the Kiwis with his 3/55 from nine overs.

Chasing a relatively low total, Mark Greatbatch and Andrew Jones notched up important fifties as barring Manoj Prabhakar and Sunil Raju, none of the other bowlers could make an impact.

Greatbatch was awarded with the 'man of the match' award for his 73 as New Zealand recorded a comfortable four-wicket win.

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World Cup 1999: New Zealand beat India by five wickets

NZ chased down 253

The sixth encounter between these two teams was at Trent Bridge in 1999. New Zealand won the toss and elected to bowl first.

All of the top five Indian batsmen got off to decent starts but threw their wickets away just as they were moving towards a big score. Barring Ajay Jadeja's 103-ball 76, skipper Azharuddin's 30 was the second-highest score as India ended with 251-6 from 50 overs.

Mohanty and Srinath gave India a good start in the second innings as New Zealand were reduced to 90-3 from 21.5 overs. However, Roger Twose and Matt Horne counter-attacked with their fifties.

Horne was the top scorer with his 116-ball 74 but in the end, it was the 77-ball unbeaten 60 from Twose that got New Zealand across the line.

World Cup 2003: India beat New Zealand by seven wickets

Zaheer Khan floored NZ with his four-for

The most recent between these two teams was at the Centurion during the 2003 World Cup. Sourav Ganguly won the toss and elected to bowl first.

Zaheer Khan bowled a fierce spell as he took two wickets in the first over itself, accounting for Craig McMillan and Nathan Astle. Javagal Srinath and Ashish Nehra continued the demolition job as were soon staring down the barrel at 60-5 with half the side back in the hut.

Chris Cairns and Chris Harris then put up a 28-run partnership until the duo fell within three overs as the lower order was exposed early. The spinners then struck continuously as New Zealand was skittled out for just 146 from 45.1 overs.

Chasing a low total, India lost three quick wickets of Sachin, Sehwag and Sourav as India were 21/3 and found themselves in a spot of bother. However, Mohammad Kaif's unbeaten 68 and Rahul Dravid's unbeaten 53 ensured that India had no more hiccups on the way as the duo chased down the target in just 40.4 overs.