The West Indies team was considered the strongest team in cricket during the period from the 1970s to the early 1990s. Twenty-one cricketers from the West Indies during that era were inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. However, with time, the Caribbean team has lost its power and grip over the game. The New Zealand team, on the other hand, has developed its game with time, adding to an increase in its rankings. The West Indies Cricket Team vs New Zealand National Cricket Team Timeline provides a detailed analysis of the encounters between the teams across the formats, with their development over time as teams.
1951 to 1972: Early Encounters
From the period of 1951-1972, the West Indies and the New Zealand Cricket Team encountered each other 14 times. Out of which, the West Indies have won 5 matches, New Zealand has bagged only 2 victories to their name, whereas 7 matches have ended in a draw. The West Indies Cricket Team vs New Zealand National Cricket Team Timeline provides a detailed analysis of the early encounters between both teams.
- 1951-1952 New Zealand vs West Indies: West Indies and New Zealand faced each other first time in 1952 for a two-match series in the test format. West Indies won the series 1-0 by winning the first match, and the second match ended up being drawn.
- 1st Test: The first test match was played at AMI Stadium, Christchurch, on 8th February, 1952. Batting first, New Zealand scored 236 runs in the first innings and 189 runs in the second innings, respectively. Whereas, the Windies put up the scores of 287 in their first innings and 142/5 in the fourth innings, clinching their first victory over New Zealand.
- 2nd Test: The second test was played at Eden Park, Auckland on 15th February 1952. West Indies batting first set up the score of 546/6 dec with the centuries – Jeffrey Stollmeyer(152 runs), Frank Worrell(100 runs), and Clyde Walcott(115 runs). New Zealand’s batting lineup was not able to handle the pressure of such a big run chase and succumbed to a total of 160 and 17/1 in the first and second innings, respectively.
- 1955-1956 New Zealand v West Indies: The four-test match series was dominated by the West Indies team as they won three matches, asserting their dominance. Key performers for the West Indies team were Sonny Ramadhin, Everton Weekes, O’Neil Smith, Denis Atkinson, John Goddard, Alfred Valentine, and Tom Dewdney.
- 1968-1969 New Zealand v West Indies: In the three-match series, New Zealand and the West Indies each won one game, while the final match resulted in a draw. Major performers for the New Zealand team were Bevan Congdon, Bruce Taylor, Richard Motz, Bryan Yuile, Graham Dowling, and Brian Hastings.
Despite Seymour Nurse’s (West Indies) outstanding 258-run knock, the last game ended in a draw.
- 1971-1972 West Indies v New Zealand: The New Zealand and West Indies teams played a five-match series in 1972. The result of the five matches ended up as being draw. There were some brilliant performances from both sides, but it did not end up bearing any fruit, as all 5 matches were drawn.
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1975 to 1995: The Era of West Indies Utter Dominance
The West Indies and the New Zealand teams have faced each other 31 times across two formats – Test match and ODI during this period. The Windies had dominated by registering 19 victories to their name, whereas New Zealand was only able to win 4 matches.
- 1975 Prudential World Cup (2nd Semi-final, ODI): The match was played at Kennington Oval, London, on 18th June 1975. Batting first, New Zealand put up a total of 158 runs. The Windies were able to pull off the run chase easily, with major contributions from Gordon Greenidge(55 runs) and Alvin Kallicharan(72 runs).
- 1979 Prudential World Cup (ODI): The 10th match of the 1979 World Cup was played between New Zealand and the West Indies at Trent Bridge, Nottingham on 16th June 1979. In this game, West Indies prevailed by 32 runs, and Clive Lloyd’s outstanding 73-run performance earned him Player of the Match honours.
- 1984-1985 Benson & Hedges World Championship (ODI): The 2nd and the 12th matches of the championship were played at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney between the West Indies and New Zealand teams. The 2nd match ended in a no-result, and the West Indies won the 12th match by 6 wickets. Major performers for the Windies were Joel Garner, Viv Richards, and Gus Logie.
- 1991-1992 Benson & Hedges World Cup (ODI): The match was played on 8th March 1992, at Eden Park, Auckland. Brian Lara (52 runs) and Keith Arthurton (40 runs) were key contributors to the West Indies’ 203-run total when they batted first. In the run chase, New Zealand batters chased the target successfully in 48.3 overs, with key contributions from Mark Greatbatch (63 runs) and Martin Crowe (81 runs*).
- 1994-1995 Wills World Series (ODI): On November 1, 1994, Nehru Stadium in Guwahati hosted the fifth game of the 1994-95 Wills World Series. By a massive margin of 135 runs, the West Indies won the game. Carl Hooper helped the Windies reach their target of 306 runs. The West Indies bowling attack choked the New Zealand’s batting lineup, resulting in them being limited to a score of only 171 runs.
- 1994-1995 New Zealand vs West Indies (ODI): The West Indies team whitewashed the Kiwis in this series at their home ground. Key performers for the West Indies team in the series were Stuart Williams, Brian Lara, Courtney Walsh, Anderson Cummins, Keith Arthurton, Winston Benjamin, and Sherwin Campbell.
- 1994-1995 New Zealand vs West Indies (Test Match): In the 2nd test played at Basin Reserve, Wellington, West Indies won the toss and elected to bat first, setting up a massive target of 660 runs with contributions from Brian Lara(147 runs), Jimmy Adams(151 runs), Junior Murray(101 runs*), Sherwin Campbell(88 runs), Keith Aurthorton(70 runs), and Shivnarine Chanderpaul(61 runs*). The bowling lineup of the Windies succumbed to the New Zealand batting lineup on 216 & 122 runs, thanks to Courtney Walsh(14 wickets), who was the major wicket-taker.
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1996 to 2016: The Rise of New Zealand
The West Indies and the New Zealand Team encountered each other 71 times across the 3 formats- from 1996 to 2016. Out of which the West Indies won 24 matches, New Zealand won 36 matches, 6 games were drawn, while 5 matches gave no result. The West Indies Cricket Team vs New Zealand Cricket Team Timeline sheds light on the encounters between the teams in a chronological order during this period.
- 1999 ICC World Cup (ODI): In the 18 match of the 1999 World Cup, played at County Ground, Southampton, between New Zealand and the West Indies, the Windies clinched the victory by 7 wickets. Mewyn Dilon’s brilliant bowling spell of 9.1 overs, 46 runs, and 4 wickets constricted the New Zealand batting lineup to a total of 156 runs. In reply, the Windies chased off the target in 44.2 overs with the major contribution from Ridley Jacobs(80 runs).
- 1999-2000 New Zealand vs West Indies (2nd Test): In the test match played at Basin Reserve, Wellington, New Zealand, batting first set up a total of 518 runs on the scoreboard. The highest run-getter for the New Zealand team was Matthew Sinclair- 214 runs. The Windies batting lineup was bundled up at the scores of 179 & 234, by brilliant bowling spells from the New Zealand team, leading to their victory.
- 2002-2003 ICC World Cup (ODI): New Zealand won the 8th match of the 2003 World Cup played against West Indies by 20 runs at St. George Park, Port Elizabeth. New Zealand set the target of 241 runs and restricted the Windies team to a score of 221 runs, with the majority of the wickets taken by Andre Adams(4 wickets) and Jacob Oram(2 wickets).
- 2004 Natwest Series (Final, ODI): The final match of the 2004 Natwest Series was played between New Zealand and the West Indies at Lord’s, London on 10th July 2004. After winning the toss, the Windies elected to bowl first. New Zealand set the target of 266 runs. In reply, the Windies were constricted by the opponent to a mere total of 159, thanks to Daniel Vittori’s brilliant spell of 9.2 overs, 30 runs, and 5 wickets.
- 2005-2006 New Zealand vs West Indies (T20I): The first T20I game between the West Indies and New Zealand was played on 16th February 2006 at Eden Park, Auckland. The match took an interesting turn as the result of the game ended up in a bowl-out, after the scores were tied up at 126 runs, and New Zealand won the match in a bowl-out.
- 2006-2007 ICC World Cup (ODI): The 27th match of the 2007 World Cup was played at Sir Vvivan Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua on 29th March 2007. Batting first, the West Indies set a target of 177 runs, which the New Zealand batting lineup chased in 39.2 overs with key contributions coming from Stephen Fleming(45 runs) and Scott Styris(80 runs*).
- 2012-2013 ICC World Twenty20: In the 2012 T20I World Cup game between New Zealand and West Indies, the scores were tied at 139 runs, and the match took an exciting turn, as the West Indies side prevailed in a super-over. Sunil Narine was named Player of the Match for his brilliant bowling spell of 4 overs, 20 runs, and 3 wickets.
- 2013-2014 New Zealand vs West Indies (2nd Test): BJ Watling’s 65 runs and Ross Taylor’s wonderful 129 runs helped New Zealand amass 441 runs on the board after opting to bat first. The Windies could only score a meager score of 193 and 175 runs in the first and second innings, respectively, due to Trent Boult’s ten wickets.
- 2014-2015 ICC World Cup (4th Quarter Final): On March 21, 2015, the Sky Stadium in Wellington was the venue for the fourth quarterfinal of the 2015 ICC World Cup. New Zealand, having won the toss, elected to bat first. Martin Guptill gave a spectacular display, hitting 237 runs* as New Zealand put up a huge total of 393 runs. Trent Boult kept the Windies’ batsmen in awe, taking 4 wickets in fiery spells, restricting them to just 250.
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2017 to 2024: Recent Encounters
During this time, New Zealand and the West Indies have faced each other 21 times, and New Zealand has dominated the Windies by winning 16 matches, while the Windies have only been able to bag just 3 wins, and 2 matches ended in a no result. The West Indies Cricket Team vs New Zealand National Cricket Team Timeline highlights the encounters between the teams in recent years.
- 2019 ICC World Cup (ODI): The 29th match of the 2019 World Cup was played at Old Trafford, Manchester, on 22nd June 2019. West Indies won the toss and put New Zealand in to bat. New Zealand then set a target of 291 runs batting first, with Williamson scoring 148 runs and Ross Taylor scoring 69 runs. In reply, the Windies scored only 286 runs and the New Zealand team won the match by 5 runs.
- 2020-2021 New Zealand vs West Indies (Test): New Zealand hosted the two-match test series and turned in a perfect 2-0 win over the visitors. Some of the widely accepted names from the New Zealand camp were Tom Latham (113 runs in total), Kane Williamson (251 runs in total), Henry Nicholls (181 runs in total), Tim Southee (12 wickets), Neil Wagner (7 wickets), and Kyle Jamieson (11 wickets).
- 2024 ICC T20 World Cup: The most recent meeting between the West Indies and New Zealand was held on 12th June 2024 at Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba, Trinidad, in the 26th league match of the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup. The Windies resurrected the 13-run triumph through the heroic effort of Sherfane Rutherford(68 runs), Alzarri Joseph(4 wickets), and Gudakesh Motie(3 wickets).
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