England vs New Zealand 2015 ODI series: Tale of numbers

A look at the numbers that have made an impact in ODIs involving England and New Zealand.

England and New Zealand played a competitive Test series, which ended in a 1-1 stalemate. New Zealand staged a brilliant comeback in the second Test, winning the game by 199 runs at Headingley, after a 124-run loss at Lord’s. The Black Caps showed a strong character in the 2nd Test, despite having a bad record in England. What will they do in One-Day Internationals (ODI)?  Nikhil Popat presents some statistics from previous England-New Zealand ODI encounters.

New Zealand had won just four of the 52 Tests they have played in England before the recently-concluded 1-1 series. They are a team on a high led by the aggressive Brendon McCullum, and the loss to Australia in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 final will still be fresh. They naturally, will have the hunger to excel, especially in England, where they have won only 10 of the 24 ODIs played till date. Read: England announce ODI squad for New Zealand series

England have rested their key players such as James Anderson and Stuart Broad for the upcoming series, in order to have them ready for the upcoming Ashes series. It presents the Kiwis a very good chance to enhance their reputation as a world-class ODI team. Read: Jos Buttler wants England to lose ‘fear of failure’ to match New Zealand’s aggression

The following are some statistics which helps us understand how these two teams have fared against each other in the 50-over format of the game

• New Zealand have an upper edge over England in ODIs, with NZ winning 39 of the 78 games, along with a couple of ties and four no-results.
• England though have the advantage of over the Kiwis at home, winning 12 of the 24 games with a couple of no-results.
• New Zealand hold the record for having the highest score between these two teams; they scored 359 for 3 in an ODI at Southampton on 2 June 2013.
• England’s highest total against New Zealand is 340 for six, which came at Napier on 20 February 2008.
• England hold the dubious record for having the lowest total among these two teams; they managed to only 89 at Wellington on 16 February 2002.
• New Zealand’s lowest score against England in ODIs — 134 all out — came at Christchurch, on 18 February 1984.
• John Wright holds the record for scoring the most number of runs against England for New Zealand with 930 runs in 30 ODIs. Brendon McCullum is third with 892 runs in 27 games and can easily go past Wright in this series.
• Allan Lamb has the highest score for England against New Zealand in ODIs with 921 runs in 28 games. Of the current set up, Ian Bell is fourth, but he has been dropped from the ODI squad.
• Martin Guptill holds the record for having the highest ODI score in an ODI involving England and New Zealand; he scored an unbeaten 189 at Southampton last year, on 2 June 2013.
• David Gower has the record for hitting the most hundreds in ODIs between these two teams. He has three tons, while Guptill is second with two tons.
• Brendon McCullum has the record for having the most number of fifty-plus scores in England-New Zealand ODIs, with as many as eight scores of over fifty.
• Martin Guptill also holds the record for scoring the most number of runs in a bilateral ODI series involving England and New Zealand. He scored 330 runs in three games at an average of 330.00 which included his highest score 189* in the 2013 series.
• Richard Hadlee with 34 wickets is the highest wicket taker in ODIs involving England and New Zealand. Of the players playing currently, Tim Southee is fourth with 27 wickets.
• Stephen Fleming and Ross Taylor jointly hold the record for most catches in an ODI series between these two teams with 14 catches each.
• Graham Gooch and Bill Athey hold the record for having the highest partnership in terms of runs in an ODI involving England and New Zealand. They added 193 runs for the opening wicket on 18 July 1986 at Manchester.

(Nikhil Popat is a diehard cricket enthusiast and a PotterHead till the end of time. He can be followed on Twitter @CricCrazyNIKS)

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