Doug Bracewell is mobbed after taking the final wicket to beat Australia in Hobart. Photo / Getty
Doug Bracewell is mobbed after taking the final wicket to beat Australia in Hobart. Photo / Getty
The Black Caps' 10-wicket win over India gave them their 100th test victory. Niall Anderson picks out five of the most significant victories in New Zealand's 90 years of test cricket.
1956 - A debut win
Fans on the field after New Zealand's first test victory. Photo / Herald Archive
After 26 years and 44 tests, New Zealand finally produced their first victory, beatingthe West Indies by 190 runs at Eden Park. Remarkably, the win came just a year after New Zealand cricket's infamous low – being bowled out for 26 by England – while they had been thrashed in their first three tests of the West Indian series. However, that was all forgotten when the West Indies – chasing 268 for victory – were instead skittled for 77, with a reported 7000 supporters storming on to the ground to celebrate the historic win.
Richard Hadlee snags a stump after New Zealand's first test win over England. Photo / Herald Archive
New Zealand's wait to beat England was by far their longest drought to topple any side, requiring them to wait until their 48th test – and 48 years – before they managed it. They did so in unlikely circumstances as well at the Basin Reserve, with their 13-run first-innings lead seemingly wasted after they were rolled for 123 in the second innings. Step up Richard Collinge and Richard Hadlee though, with Collinge taking the first three wickets before Hadlee took six as the pair bowled 26.3 of the 27.3 overs. A runout was the other wicket to fall, and England had been spectacularly routed for 64. Celebrations were short-lived though, with the New Zealand Cricket Council secretary – aware an early finish was in store – cancelling the players' Wellington hotel bookings and sending them home in the afternoon.
1985 - Hadlee's finest hour
Richard Hadlee was part of many wicket celebrations on the tour of Australia. Photo / Getty
Hadlee produced an even finer performance seven years on, inspiring New Zealand to their first test victory in Australia. He produced what still stands as New Zealand's best bowling figures in an innings – and sixth-best all time – claiming 9-52, and famously taking the catch for the other wicket to fall, which doubled as spinner Vaughan Brown's only test wicket. Australia had been dismissed for 179, but it wasn't a one-man show, as New Zealand made what was then their highest test score in Australia, reaching 553-7 thanks to Martin Crowe (188) and John Reid (108). Hadlee chipped in with an unbeaten 54, then casually took another six wickets to end with 15-123 – the 10th-best test match figures of all time – sealing a victory by an innings and 41 runs.
2011 - Hobart heroics
Doug Bracewell is mobbed after taking the final wicket to beat Australia in Hobart. Photo / Getty
After Hadlee had inspired two victories in Australia in 1985, New Zealand then failed to win any of their next 18 tests across the ditch. That was until 2011, when the Black Caps managed to defend 240 as Doug Bracewell produced the finest moment of his career. At 159-2, Australia looked home and dry, before Bracewell ripped them apart with a sensational spell of bowling. A 34-run final-wicket stand between David Warner (123 not out) and Nathan Lyon brought Australia within seven runs, but Bracewell knocked over Lyon's stumps to end with 6-40 and break New Zealand's drought. The Black Caps' most recent tour of Australia once again hammered home just how impressive their Hobart victory was.
2020 - A fitting century
Trent Boult celebrates one of his four second-innings wickets. Photo / Getty
Rare are the tests in which the Black Caps beat the world's No 1 test side, and to do so against a team who had won seven straight tests, each by a massive margin, makes it even more impressive. Rolling India's vaunted batting lineup for 165 and 191 to claim a 10-wicket win is a truly fitting way to bring up New Zealand's 100.
