World Cup 1979: New Zealand beat India by 8 wickets
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.
World Cup 1987: India beat New Zealand by 16 runs
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.
World Cup 1987: India beat New Zealand by nine wickets
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.
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