Record breakers: New Zealand opening batsmen Henry Nicholls and Martin Guptill. Photo / Photosport
Record breakers: New Zealand opening batsmen Henry Nicholls and Martin Guptill. Photo / Photosport
The Black Caps have cemented themselves in the history books, and this time, it's for all the right reasons.
The New Zealand ODI squad accomplished what the Twenty20 side could not, with an impressive 3-0 series sweep of India, claiming a five-wicket victory at Mount Maunganui's Bay Oval last night.
Thanks to the likes of Martin Guptill (66 off 46 balls), Henry Nicholls (80 off 103) and Colin de Grandhomme's unbeaten 28-ball 58, the Black Caps' successful chase of 297 has rewritten cricket history.
The fresh opening combination of Guptill and Nicholls may already be one of New Zealand's best-ever after becoming the first to record three consecutive ODI opening stands of 85 or more.
It is also the first time India has been whitewashed in a bilateral ODI series this century.
On top of that, New Zealand's two highest successful ODI run-chases against India have come in this series - 348 in the first match and 297 in the third. Their previous-best run chase against India was 281.
New Zealand's strike bowlers also joined the party by restricting India's top-three batsmen to an average of 21.66 - their lowest in any series or tournament since 2014.
Meanwhile, India's bowlers produced their second-worst average in an ODI series of three or more matches at just 114.60.
Speaking after the side's history-making result, Nicholls credited the successful partnership between himself and teammate Guptill.
"We've been lucky enough to put on some good partnerships and the way he played today allowed us to get ahead of the run chase," Nicholls said. "I think that was important heading into the back end. It was pretty cool to bat with him out there - obviously his experience as well certainly helps me.
Black Caps opener Henry Nicholls. Photo / Photosport
"He's scoring so quickly I can just sort of stand there. It's just so clear for him, and the way we talk, we want to put them under pressure, and you sort of play second fiddle for a bit there.
"We've been fortunate enough for all three games to put on a good opening stand which is important for us as a batting unit."
The Blacks Caps will hope to continue their run of top results in the first test against India starting next Friday at the Basin Reserve.
The second of the two-test series will start on February 29.
