New Zealand vs India, 2020: 5-match T20I series – Statistical Preview

India’s bilateral tour of New Zealand kick starts on Friday when they face off the home team in the first game of the 5-match T20I series. The T20I series will be followed by a 3-match ODI series and a 2-match Test series. The series will be ideal preparation for the Indian team who are expected to make few experiments. The New Zealand team will be missing a few experienced named in this series but their regular skipper Kane Williamson will be playing a T20I for the first time in nearly a year.

All the key stats and numbers that matter ahead of India’s first-ever 5-match T20I series:

1-4 – India won only one of the five matches they played in the T20I cricket on New Zealand soil. Their only win came during the last tour at the Auckland’s Eden Park by seven wickets.

3-8 – India has won only three out of the 11 T20I matches they played against New Zealand thus far. India won two of those three matches during the home series in 2017 which was the only time India won a T20I series against the Kiwis.

3 – Number of instances of a wicketkeeper opening the innings for India in the Men’s T20I cricket – Naman Ojha (Twice) vs Zimbabwe in 2010 and Parthiv Patel vs West Indies in 2011. KL Rahul could be seen playing as wicketkeeper alongside opening at some point in this 5-match series.

11 – Ish Sodhi’s 11 wickets in T20Is against India are the most wickets by any player in NZ-IND T20I matches. Mitchell Santner and Tim Southee are 2nd and 3rd in this list. All the three Kiwi players featured in seven T20Is against India.

14.73 – Average balls per six in the T20I format at Auckland’s Eden Park. A total of 288 sixes have been hit across the 19 T20Is hosted by this venue; the most T20I sixes in a venue on New Zealand soil.

The batting strike rate at Eden Park reads 135.43 in this format; the highest at any venue that has hosted 10+ matches in Men’s cricket. The venue will host the first two matches of this 5-match T20I series.

44.17 – KL Rahul has amassed 1237 in the T20I format at an average of 44.17 with two tons and nine fifties. Only Babar Azam (1405 runs @ 50.17) scored more runs than KLR in T20Is since his debut at a better average.

49.25 – Virat Kohli has a batting average of 49.25 in the T20I format against New Zealand. He scored 197 runs across five innings against the Blackcaps with help of two half-centuries. However, Kohli has not played a T20I match on New Zealand soil to date.

50 – The New Zealand spinners Mitchell Santner (49) and Ish Sodhi (47) are respectively 1 and 3 wickets away from completing 50 T20I wickets. Only Tim Southee (75) and Nathan McCullum (58) have picked 50+ wickets for New Zealand in Men’s T20Is.

248 – Colin Munro has scored 248 runs in seven T20I matches against India. Munro has an average of 41.33 and a strike rate of 165.33 in this format against India. Only Brendon McCullum (261) has more runs in New Zealand-India T20Is than Munro.

8795 – Runs Virat Kohli has aggregated in the Twenty20 format till date. Virat needs 205 more runs to become the first Indian and only the 6th player overall to amass 9000 runs in T20 cricket.

9937 – Runs Rohit Sharma has amassed in International Cricket as an opener. Rohit needs 63 more runs to become the 4th Indian opener to complete 10000 International runs. Rohit (13889) is also 111 runs away from becoming the 8th Indian with 14000 runs in International Cricket.