Neil Wagner appeals successfully as James Anderson of England is caught behind by Tom Blundell and New Zealand win the test match by one run. Photo / Photosport
Neil Wagner appeals successfully as James Anderson of England is caught behind by Tom Blundell and New Zealand win the test match by one run. Photo / Photosport
OPINION:
In cricket’s rich and lengthy history, the Black Caps have often punched above their weight.
A small pool of talent to pick from, money that cannot compete with the giants of India or England, and a nation that has often struggled to get cricketing royalty to tour our shores - these are just a handful of struggles New Zealand Cricket has faced for decades.
But despite everything going against us, on occasion the Black Caps have climbed cricket Everests and given fans something to be proud of.
On the banks of the Basin Reserve, today, the Black Caps did just that. They defied the odds and defied history, beating England by one run, and with that becoming just the fourth-ever cricketing side to win a test after following on.
With that at the forefront of our minds, we take a look at five of New Zealand’s greatest cricketing victories.
Neil Wagner appeals successfully as James Anderson of England is caught behind by Tom Blundell and New Zealand win the test match by one run. Photo / Photosport
1. BEAT ENGLAND BY 1 RUN AT THE BASIN, WELLINGTON, 2023
Facing a series sweep and an innings defeat on the cards, New Zealand were forced to follow on after squandering the chance of rolling England on a green seamer.
England were 21/3 after half an hour on day one. New Zealand was rocking. Then we blinked and the game was taken away from us in two-and-a-half sessions. The 21/3 became 320/3 before eventually boldly England declared on 435/8.
The Black Caps crumbled to 209 all out, with captain Tim Southee saving New Zealand from further humiliation by notching up his second-ever highest test score of 73.
England enforced the follow on. The job was impossible for New Zealand. Forget a test victory, playing out for a draw appeared to be heavily out of reach.
Then a switch flicked. Tom Latham (83) and Devon Conway (61) carefully chewed into the deficit, with New Zealand showing the fight fans have come to expect from this side.
At 149/1 hopes of a draw went from impossible to outside chance. Kane Williamson (132) notched up his 25th test hundred while Daryl Mitchell (54) and Tom Blundell (90) gave New Zealand a lead, and with that something to bowl at.
A mini collapse saw a potential lead of 300+ squandered, with New Zealand finally all out for 483, setting England 258 for victory.
Coming into the final day England were one down and had already wiped 39 off the total. With just 219 left to get and nine wickets in hand, the tourists were heavy favourites.
Two early wickets became three, and suddenly England were 80/5, needing another 178 runs.
What was thought to be the killer blow came when Joe Root reached 95, taking England to the brink of victory. The game all but done, New Zealand turned to one man. Neil Wagner.
The 36-year-old then produced one of his greatest moments as the Black Caps completed one of their greatest triumphs.
With a barrage of short-pitch bowling he got the key men of Stokes and Root.
England edged closer, before Southee took the 9th wicket. The equation, seven runs and one wicket.
An unexpected boundary then put England in the box seat needing two runs to win.
Up stepped Wagner. It was an innocuous delivery sliding down the leg side. It should have been hit for four. Instead, it found Anderson’s edge. Blundell dove at full stretch and emerged with the ball in his hands.
New Zealand had done the unthinkable. They had produced their greatest-ever test victory, a one-run win after following on.
In doing so, they became the fourth side to claim victory after being asked to follow-on. It was previously a once-in-a-century occurrence, achieved by England in 1894 and 1981 before India famously thrashed Australia in 2001.
Doug Bracewell celebrates taking the wicket of Ricky Ponting of Australia in 2011. Photo / Getty Images
2. BEAT AUSTRALIA BY 7 RUNS IN HOBART, 2011
Heavily beaten in Brisbane, New Zealand was on a hiding to nothing taking on an Australian pace barrage.
It was Trent Boult’s test debut, and Doug Bracewell was fresh on the scene.
What unfolded would become one of the most remarkable test turnarounds ever.
Captain Ross Taylor’s notched up a brave half-century under fire to help give New Zealand an outside sniff, setting Australia 241. At 153/2 with David Warner and the great Ricky Ponting at the crease it was game over.
It was until Bracewell announced him on the world stage.
The young gun went to work, swinging and seaming the ball both ways, snaring 6/40 and ripping through the Australian lineup.
Warner had notched up his 100 and despite having just one wicket left, Australia were hot favourites.
With seven runs needed for victory, Bracewell nipped one back as he skittled Nathan Lyon’s stumps to secure a rare test victory on Australian shores.
New Zealand players celebrate their first test victory, 1956. Photo / NZ Herald
3. FIRST TEST VICTORY, BEAT WEST INDIES BY 190 RUNS, EDEN PARK, 1956
New Zealand was already 3–0 down in the series going into the fourth and final test at Eden Park in Auckland. Their West Indies opponents included household names such as Gary Sobers and Everton Weekes, who had broken batting records for a New Zealand season.
New captain John Reid won the toss and decided to bat first. His aggressive innings of 84 underpinned New Zealand’s total of 255. Then Tony MacGibbon and Harry Cave each took four wickets as the West Indies was dismissed for 145.
New Zealand declared its second innings closed at 157 for 9, with wicketkeeper Sam Guillen top-scoring with 41. West Indian-born Guillen had played on the Caribbean side’s tour of Australia in 1951–52 before settling in Christchurch.
The West Indies needed 268 for victory in two sessions, but another four-wicket haul by Cave saw them skittled for 77 as rain threatened. In the last act of the match, Guillen stumped Alf Valentine. After 22 losses and 22 draws in 26 years of test cricket, New Zealand at last tasted victory.
Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson celebrate after winning the ICC World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand in Southampton, England, in June 2021. Photo / Getty Images
4. NZ WINS TEST CHAMPIONSHIP OVER INDIA BY 8 WICKETS, 2021
Under Brendon McCullum, the Black Caps had turned their test fortunes around. He retired, and a couple of years later the Test championship was born. Suddenly New Zealand’s rise from middling battlers to a genuine top nation now had purpose.
The Kane Williamson-inspired Black Caps always found a way to put the team first.
And the squad had so many fabulous components, from the most widely respected captain in the game to a new world star bowler Kyle Jamieson.
It all came together over a glorious, rain-hit week in Southampton.
Winning the toss and bowling first, New Zealand’s mean four-seam attack put their foot down and rolled India for 217. Jamieson was the star, taking 5/31.
In tough conditions, New Zealand crawled their way to just 249 runs despite a solid start from the new boy Devon Conway (54) and Williamson (49).
With a small lead, New Zealand’s bowls bettered their first innings efforts, destroying India’s top order thanks to a Boult 4fa and Southee 3fa. 170 all out was all India had, leaving New Zealand just needing 139 runs to take out the very first World Test Championship.
After a minor blip, Williamson (52) and Ross Taylor (47), two of New Zealand’s finest test batters of all time were at the crease to see the team home by 8 wickets and create history.
The WTC victory is argued by some to be a greater achievement than the All Blacks’ 2011 World Cup win.
Other than an ICC Champions Trophy in 2000, it was to be the Black Caps’ most prestigious silverware in their history.
It will still be some time before Black Caps fans get to witness history like Grant Elliott's semifinal six-to-win at Eden Park in 2015's ODI World Cup. Photo / Photosport
5. WORLD CUP SEMI FINAL VICTORY OVER SOUTH AFRICA, EDEN PARK, 2015
Grant Elliott, SUPERMAN! Three words is all it took for Ian Smith to capture the feeling of a nation.
In terms of sporting theatre and atmosphere in New Zealand, this moment may never be beaten.
The Black Caps had beaten Australia in pool play and romped home against West Indies in the quarter-final, but would they stumble on the world stage? A world cup final had always eluded them.
Batting first, South Africa reached 281/5 off their 43 overs, giving New Zealand an almighty task ahead of them.
To make matters harder, Duckworth/Lewis set New Zealand 298 to chase off just 43 overs.
Brendon McCullum (59 off 26) set the tone, powering the Black Caps away to an explosive start, but the game soon evened up with the loss of McCullum, Williamson and Taylor.
At 149/4 the game was in the balance, and every run was cheered by the crowd as nerves began to set in.
Up stepped Corey Anderson who compiled a run-a-ball 58. His batting partner Grant Elliott was holding the inning together, and made sure to hold his wicket.
With the loss of Anderson and Luke Ronchi, the nerves of the nation rose to boiling point.
Needing 14 off seven balls, Elliott tried to send the ball to the stands but instead skied it. A nation held its breath. The fielder set himself up under it. Dropped. Millions of Kiwis collectively let out a breath of relief.
The final over was here. New Zealand needed 12. After two singles off the first two balls, Vettori stepped away from his stumps and somehow chopped the ball to the backward point boundary.
Six off three needed. Vettori swings and misses and scampers through for a bye.
Five off two. The weight of two nations on Elliott’s shoulders. He stepped back, head down, and swung for the fence. He connected, and sent the ball flying for six into the night sky and with it sent New Zealand to their first World Cup final.
The stadium erupted, Auckland erupted, New Zealand erupted.
