Top matches of 2014 - 4) Black Caps v India

Sports Editor at Large·NZME.·

29 Dec, 2014 06:46 PM2 mins to read

New Zealand celebrate the final wicket of Ishant Sharma of India during day four of the First Test match between New Zealand and India at Eden Park. Photo / Getty Images.

The Herald counts down the greatest sporting encounters of the year.

Eden Park, 6-10 March, 2014

This was a test that had pretty much everything except the sort of crowd it deserved on the final, enthralling day.

For the second season in a row Eden Park, for all its wretched not-fit-for-test-cricket-purpose, produced a match of startling quality and drama.

It started with New zealand posting 503 thanks to a century by batting wunderkind Kane Williamson and a double-ton of scorching quality by Brendon McCullum (hard to imagine this now just seems like a footnote on his year).

New Zealand secured a lead of 301, thanks to brilliant pace-bowling by the trio of Trent Boult (3-38), Tim Southee (3-38) and Neil Wagner (4-64).

McCullum chose not to enforce the follow-on, figuring a half decent total would put his team in an unassailable position. Instead what we got was a bad-old-days collapse, all out for 105, India needing a challenging but not impossible 407 to win.

At 222 for 2 that looked especially doable, but the tireless Wagner got Virat Kohli (67) to waft at one through to BJ Watling; 26 runs later he produced a brute of a ball from around the wicket to account for Shikhar Dhawan (115).

With 45 needed, two wickets left and the dangerous Dhoni (39) poised to steal the test, Wagner (4-62) again came to the party in what was his finest hour as a Black Cap to date, bowling the Indian skipper.

Trent Boult wrapped things up four runs later, giving New Zealand the test and, ultimately, the series after McCullum's match-saving triple-century a week later in Wellington.

He was awarded man of the match here for his 224, but he would not have quibbled one bit if it had been given to his pace trio as a collective, who took all 20 indian wickets to fall.

This was confirmation that New Zealand cricket was back on the map.