What is Fantasy Cricket:
Fantasy Gaming is a sub-genre of gaming wherein game players get to play a virtual version of a real-life game, for example, Fantasy Cricket or Fantasy Football. In Fantasy Cricket, the game players have to select their team of 11 players from an ongoing tournament, such as the Indian Premier League, World Cup, etc. Every player registered in the game gets points at the end of a matchday based on their performance in the game. Based on these points, leaderboards are generated and game players can compete with each other using these leaderboards. Through this game, players can have fun with friends and also compete with each other on the fact that who has the best cricket knowledge among them, as fantasy cricket also provides players with an option to create their tournaments in which friends can have their own leaderboards and compete amongst themselves rather than the entire world.
India vs New Zealand pitted against each other in the past:
Arguably two of the biggest names in the world of cricket, The Indian and New Zealand cricket teams have had quite a history. The first-ever game that happened between these two giants of the game was played at the Fateh Maidan Stadium in Hyderabad, India back in November of 1955. It was a game in the test format as it was the only format of the game at that time. The game lasted all five days and ended up in a draw. The second test of that series was hosted at the Brabourne Stadium in Bombay, India. It took place on Dec 2nd, 1955. The game didn’t last the entire span of 5 days as India won the game by an innings and 27 runs. The third test of that series was hosted by the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi, India on Dec 16, 1955. The match ended in a draw after 5 days of play. The 4th Test of the series was at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on December 28th, 1955. This match also ended in a draw after 5 days of play. The fifth and the last Test of the series was played at the Corporation Stadium in Madras(now Chennai) on January 6th, 1956. India dominated this game and subsequently won the game by an innings and 109 runs. India ended up winning the series 2 games to 0. Having won two and drawing the other three. The last game between these two was back in October of 2016 in a 3 game Test Series played in India. India whitewashed New Zealand in that series by winning 3 to 0. The Next Test Series is scheduled to be played in February and March 2020. India and New Zealand have come Head to Head in a total of 57 games in the International 5-Day Test format. India has won a total of 21 times while New Zealand has won a total of 10 times. A total of 26 Matches have resulted in a draw.
The first-ever One Day International (ODI) between the Indian and New Zealand cricket teams was played in the 10th match of the Prudential World Cup at the Old Trafford in Manchester, England on June 14th, 1975. New Zealand won that game by 4 wickets and 7 balls to spare. India put up a total of 230 in 60 Overs. New Zealand managed to score 233 in 58.5 overs and consequently won the game. Since that game, there has been a total of 53 One Day International Series between India and New Zealand( not all bilateral). India has managed to win a total of 17 series out of these and New Zealand has managed to win just 7. Out of the remaining series, two of the series have been drawn and one series was shared. The remaining 26 non-bilateral series have been won by another Country’s team. In terms of matches, There have been 110 matches between the two, India has won 55 of those matches whereas New Zealand has managed to win 49 of those matches. Out of the remaining, 1 match resulted in a draw and 5 matches were declared as No Result due to multiple possible reasons.
The first-ever T20 International (the 20 over format) match between India and New Zealand was played in the 13th match of the first-ever ICC World Twenty 20 World Cup of 2007 on September 16th, 2007 at Johannesburg. New Zealand managed to put up a total of 190 runs in 20 overs and India had a target of 191 in 120 balls. India could only manage 180 runs for 9 wickets in their 20 overs. The first T20 series between the two was played in 2008 – 2009 and it was won by the Kiwis. Since then India and New Zealand have played a total of 7 T20 series against each other (not all in bi-lateral format). Out of the total 7, 3 of those series have been won by India and 3 of the remaining have been won by New Zealand. The remaining 1 was won by another Country’s team as the series was non-bilateral. A total of 17 T20 matches have been played between the two where-in India has won 8 ( 2 of those in the Super Over) and New Zealand has won the remaining 8. The one remaining game was abandoned.
Forms leading up to the 2020 Series(Considering the year 2019):
India:
The Indian Cricket Team participated in multiple Tours leading up to 2019 and during 2019, including the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. The year kicked off with the ‘India in Australia 2018-19’. India drew the T20 series 1-1, won the test series 2-1, and also won the ODI series 2-1. Then came the India tour of NewZealand 2018-19. India won the ODI series 4-1 and lost the T20 Series 2-1. Then the World Cup kicked off. India overall performed excellently in the group stage of the World Cup and finished 1st out of 10 in the table where-as New Zealand finished 4th. India Ended up losing to New Zealand in the Semi-Finals and New Zealand went on to become the runners-up, losing the final in the super over. India then played a tour in West Indies where they won the T20 3-0, ODI 2-0 and Test matches 2-0. In the South Africa tour of India, India drew the T20 series 1-1 and won the test series 3-0. In the Bangladesh Tour of India in November, India won the test series 2-0, and the T20 series 2-1, India lost to Bangladesh for the first time in a T20 match during this T20 series. For the final tour of 2019, India hosted West Indies. India won the T20 2-1 and also won the ODI series 2-1. For the last games leading up to the series, India played a 3 ODI series with Australia, India won it 2-1.
New Zealand:
At the turn of the year, New Zealand was playing India in the ‘India Tour of NewZealand 2018-19’. New Zealand lost the ODI series 1-4 and won the T20 series 2-1. New Zealand later that month hosted Sri Lanka and won the ODI series 3-0 and won the only T20 that was played between those two. During the visit of Bangladesh, New Zealand whitewashed the ODI series 3-0 and also whitewashed the Test series 3-0. Then during the World Cup, New Zealand finished in the fourth position in the table qualifying for the playoffs. After beating India in the Semi-Finals, New Zealand just missed out on the World Cup by losing in the Super Over to England. New Zealand then visited Sri Lanka and played two tests, winning one and losing one. In September they played 3 T20Is against Sri Lanka winning the series 2-1. After a break in October, New Zealand returned to action in November when they hosted England. New Zealand won the T20 Series 3-2 and the test series 1-0. New Zealand then played away to Australia for the final games before the series in the Test format. Unfortunately for the Kiwis, they ended up getting whitewashed in the Series losing 0-3.
The India Tour of New Zealand 2020:
For the first International Series of 2020, the world saw India visit The Kiwis. New Zealand had previously defeated a high flying Indian team in the World Cup Semi-Finals and had broken the hearts of the Indian fans. India sought redemption as they prepared themselves for this first Series of 2020. The complete Tour consisted of 5 T20 Internationals, a 3 game ODI series and two 5 Day Test Matches. On January 24th, 2020, India played the first T20 against the Kiwis in Auckland. It was the first instance of five different 50+ scores in a T20I. New Zealand scored a total of 203 in 20 overs. Some calm collected batting display by India ensured they chased down 203 to win the game with an over to spare. For the second game on January 26th at the same venue, New Zealand started by batting first and this time posted a comparatively smaller total of just 132. India comfortably chased it down in 17.3 overs to make it two from two in the T20 series. For the third game on January 29th in Hamilton, India batted first and posted a score of 179 for 5 in 20 overs. With some interesting turn of events, India managed to draw the game and restrict New Zealand to a score of 179 too. The game went into super overs. India batted first in the super overs and after a slow start in the first four balls, Rohit Sharma hit 2 sixes in the last 2 balls to take Indias Super Over total to 20. Even after some decent batting by Williamson, New Zealand only managed to score 17 and India won the game. This meant that India had won a T20 series in New Zealand for the first time. But this was not the only record broken on that tour. After winning the 4th T20 too and that also in another Super Over and a close call finish in the final T20 where India was able to restrict New Zealand with Two set Batsmen, a Required Run Rate of just six an over and seven wickets in hand from chasing down 163 with some good bowling, India managed a T20 whitewash of New Zealand. This was the first-ever by anybody in the format. A record of 5-0 meant India had sought some redemption over the Kiwis for the World Cup SemiFinal.
With this whitewash, New Zealand also set a record of most defeats at home soil in a T20 match with 23 from 59 matches. Onto the next leg of the Tournament, India played against the Kiwis in the first ODI at Hamilton. India put forward a massive score of 347/4 in 50 overs, but with some superb and calm batting from the Kiwis, they managed to chase it down with 11 balls to spare. In the second ODI on February 8th at Auckland, New Zealand scored 273/8 after 50 overs after collapsing midway when they were 197/8. Some decent bowling performance meant that New Zealand was able to bowl out India at just 251 and in the process, secured the ODI series. With the whitewash as their target, The Kiwis hosted India for the last ODI on February 11th. India put up an above-average total of 296/7 in 50 overs. But with some superb batting by New Zealand, they managed to chase it down with 17 balls to spare. This amazing chase meant that they had taken their revenge and managed to whitewash India in the 50 overs format. This whitewash meant India had been whitewashed for the 4th time in an ODI series.
With the limited-overs format done and dusted, all the spectators now turn their eyes towards the Test format. Can India win it this time or the superb form from New Zealand carry forward to the ODIs? Whatever the result may be, the fans know that they can expect a banger of a match.
