# Indian cricket team in New Zealand in 1998–99

The India national cricket team toured New Zealand from 7 December 1998 to 19 January 1999 and played a three-match Test series against New Zealand. New Zealand won the series 1–0. The two teams also played a 5-match ODI series that ended in a 2–2 draw.

## Background

India came into New Zealand with a poor away record. They had won just one Test away from home since 1986, and not won a series in New Zealand since 1968. Most recently, they had lost away to Zimbabwe in a one-off Test.
From 35 meetings between the two sides, New Zealand had won six, lost 13, and drawn 16 Tests. Going into the Test series, India had five batsmen ranked inside the top 20 of the ICC Men's Player Rankings, three of who averaged over 50. On the other hand, New Zealand had only one batsman averaging above 40, Craig McMillan, and that from only eight Tests. The Christchurch Press wrote, "Where the Black Caps achieve parity and should have an advantage at home is in the bowling ranks. Leg-spinner Anil Kumble and seam bowler Javagal Srinath are the cornerstones of India's bowling attack, while Venkatesh Prasad should develop further in New Zealand conditions. But India's back-up spin bowling resources are barely tried.... [t]hrough Chris Cairns, Dion Nash and Shayne O'Connor, there is wicket-taking prowess."

## Squads

Tests :
| New Zealand | India |
| Stephen Fleming (c) Geoff Allott Nathan Astle Matthew Bell Chris Cairns Simon Doull Matt Horne Craig McMillan Dion Nash Shayne O'Connor Adam Parore (wk) Roger Twose Daniel Vettori Paul Wiseman | Mohammad Azharuddin (c) Ajay Jadeja (vc) Ajit Agarkar Rahul Dravid Sourav Ganguly Sunil Joshi Anil Kumble V. V. S. Laxman Debashish Mohanty Nayan Mongia (wk) Venkatesh Prasad Navjot Singh Sidhu Harbhajan Singh Javagal Srinath Sachin Tendulkar |
India's 15-man Test squad for the tour was announced in November 1998. Harbhajan Singh, Navjot Singh Sidhu and Debashish Mohanty who were excluded from the side for the ICC KnockOut Trophy and tri-series earlier that year, were recalled. The New Zealand Test squad was named on 8 December. Paceman Geoff Allott made a comeback into the squad for the third time and was included ahead of Shayne O'Connor as he offered "more pace and bounce". 21-year-old batsman Matthew Bell was added for the first time. O'Connor was later added to the squad after Simon Doull was ruled out with a strained calf. Roger Twose was included to their side for the Third Test replacing an injured Nathan Astle.

## Tour matches
### Four-day: Central Districts v Indians

* 7–10 December 1998 Scorecard
* Central Districts won by 7 wickets McLean Park, Napier Umpires: Steve Dunne and Dave Quested
* Central Districts won the toss and elected to field.

### Four-day: Wellington v Indians

* 12–15 December 1998 Scorecard
* Indians won by 8 wickets Basin Reserve, Wellington Umpires: Christopher King and Dave Quested
* Indians won the toss and elected to field.

### Friendly: New Zealand v India

* 21 December 1998 (D/N) Scorecard
| New Zealand 304/6 (50 overs) | v | India 238/8 (50 overs) |
| Stephen Fleming 73 (64) Anil Kumble 2/50 (10 overs) | | VVS Laxman 82 (103) Dion Nash 2/36 (8 overs) |
* New Zealand won by 66 runs Carisbrook, Dunedin Umpires: Steve Dunne and Eddie Nicholls
* India won the toss and elected to field.

## Test series
### 1st Test

* 18–22 December 1998 Scorecard
* Match abandoned Carisbrook, Dunedin Umpires: Steve Dunne (NZ) and Eddie Nicholls (WI)
* No toss made.
* Prolonged heavy rain forced match to abandoned on day 3.

### 2nd Test

* 26–30 December 1998 Scorecard
* New Zealand won by 4 wickets Basin Reserve, Wellington Umpires: Eddie Nicholls (WI) and Evan Watkin (NZ) Player of the match: Simon Doull (NZ)
* India won the toss and elected to bat.
* Matthew Bell (NZ) made his Test debut.

### 3rd Test

* 2–6 January 1999 Scorecard
* Match drawn WestpacTrust Park, Hamilton Umpires: Doug Cowie (NZ) and Rudi Koertzen (SA) Player of the match: Chris Cairns (NZ)
* India won the toss and elected to field.
* Robin Singh Jr. (Ind) made his Test debut.
* Javagal Srinath made 76 in India's first innings, his highest individual score in Tests.
* Rahul Dravid became the third India player to score two centuries in a Test.

## ODIs
### 1st ODI

* 9 January 1999 (D/N) Scorecard
| India 257/5 (50 overs) | v | New Zealand 200/5 (38 overs) |
| Rahul Dravid 123 (123) Daniel Vettori 1/26 (5 overs) | | Craig McMillan 73 (76) Javagal Srinath 2/35 (8 overs) |
* New Zealand won by 5 wickets (D/L method) Owen Delany Park, Taupō Umpires: Billy Bowden (NZ) and Doug Cowie (NZ) Player of the match: Rahul Dravid (Ind)
* India won the toss and elected to bat.
* Play was stopped for 50 minutes due to technical fault in a floodlight tower. On resumption, New Zealand's target was revised to 200 runs off 39 overs.
* It was the first ODI played at this venue.

### 2nd ODI

* 12 January 1999 (D/N) Scorecard
| New Zealand 213 (49.3 overs) | v | India 214/8 (49.5 overs) |
| Matt Horne 61 (95) Sachin Tendulkar 3/34 (8.3 overs) | | Sourav Ganguly 38 (60) Daniel Vettori 2/32 (7 overs) |
* India won by 2 wickets McLean Park, Napier Umpires: Steve Dunne (NZ) and Christopher King (NZ) Player of the match: Matt Horne (NZ)
* India won the toss and elected to field.
* Eight batsmen were dismissed run out in either side, the most in an ODI.

### 3rd ODI

* 14 January 1999 Scorecard
| India 208/4 (32 overs) | v | New Zealand 89/2 (12.1 overs) |
| Rahul Dravid 68 (71) Gavin Larsen 2/56 (6 overs) | | Bryan Young 52* (40) Javagal Srinath 1/22 (4 overs) |
* No result Basin Reserve, Wellington Umpires: Dave Quested (NZ) and Evan Watkin (NZ)
* New Zealand won the toss and elected to field.
* Initially reduced to 32 overs each, the match had to be eventually abandoned due to rain.
* Chris Drum (NZ) made his debut in ODIs.

### 4th ODI

* 16 January 1999 Scorecard
| New Zealand 207/7 (50 overs) | v | India 208/5 (43.5 overs) |
| Chris Cairns 44 (67) Javagal Srinath 3/41 (9 overs) | | Rahul Dravid 51 (71) Chris Cairns 3/28 (8 overs) |
* India won by 5 wickets Eden Park, Auckland Umpires: Steve Dunne (NZ) and Tony Hill (NZ) Player of the match: Rahul Dravid (Ind)
* India won the toss and elected to field.

### 5th ODI

* 19 January 1999 (D/N) Scorecard
| New Zealand 300/8 (50 overs) | v | India 230 (48 overs) |
| Chris Cairns 115 (80) Javagal Srinath 3/44 (10 overs) | | Mohammad Azharuddin 63 (83) Chris Harris 4/40 (10 overs) |
* New Zealand won by 70 runs Lancaster Park, Christchurch Umpires: Dave Quested (NZ) and Christopher King (NZ) Player of the match: Chris Cairns (NZ)
* India won the toss and elected to field.
* Chris Cairns (NZ) played his 100th ODI. His century off 75 balls was the fastest by a New Zealand batsman.