New Zealand and India have remained unbeatable in their respective groups winning all the 5 matches they played. Such is their dominance that both have already qualified for the quarterfinals as the group toppers while rest of the teams are yet to decide their position in the quarterfinal list. Both have faced just one close match, and still have taken all 50 wickets in 5 matches and are on their way to equalize the South African record in the World Cup, although will like to avoid the same unfortunate fate.
World Cup 2015: Schedules and Results
South Africa holds the record for maximum consecutive matches in the World Cup where they bowled out oppositions. In 2011 World Cup, they bowled out 6 teams consecutively setting a difficult world cup record.
Who would have predicted that their record would be under threat just in the next edition of 2015 World Cup. And, on top of that there are two contenders, not just one. New Zealand and India both need to bowl out their opponents in their last group match to equal South African record of 6 consecutive bowl outs of opponents in the World Cup.
Statistics for India and New Zealand from World Cup 2015
- Both Teams have taken 50 wickets in 5 matches.
Both teams have won all the 5 matches.
Both teams have not conceded 300 runs against any team so far.
Both teams have qualified for quarter-final matches as group toppers.
Lowest score of World Cup belongs to UAE vs India.
Only one team (Sri Lanka) has crossed 200 runs vs New Zealand.
Before 5 bowl outs, India’s best run has been 4 bowl outs where they won 4 consecutive matches till the final of the World Cup 1983.
New Zealand’s maximum consecutive bowl outs has earlier run for 3 matches in two editions, 1983 and 2011.
6th Match of Both Teams
New Zealand plays Bangladesh at Hamilton on March 13th, while India plays Zimbabwe in their last group match on March 14th at Auckland. Considering the bowler-friendly New Zealand pitches, unlike the batsmen-friendly Australian pitches another bowl out appears on the cards.
Key Bowlers of Both teams
The key bowlers for New Zealand are Southee, Boult, Vettori and Corey Anderson. While Southee and Boult are the leading bowlers of World Cup 2015 with 13 wickets each, Vettori is second with 12 wicket, joined by India’s Shami. Corey Anderson has 7 wickets.
For India all the five bowlers have played key role. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ashwin, Mohit Sharma and Jadeja, all have bowled in tandem and have earned wickets. Shami is joint second best bowler of the tournament. Ashwin has grabbed 11 wickets, Umesh Yadav, Jadeja, Mohit Sharma have 7 wickets each.
New Zealand is playing all the matches at home, yet it is no lesser achievement. Even at home conditions bowling out teams like Sri Lanka, Australia and England is not easy.
For India, the achievement is certainly very unique. This is their best performance ever in World Cup, and probably overall ODIs too. Nobody gave their bowlers any chance to succeed. To the surprise of all and to the team also, the bowlers have surpassed all expectations bowling out Pakistan, South Africa, West Indies, UAE and Ireland.
Interestingly, South Africa won all the 6 matches of World Cup 2011 at Group Stage bowling out West Indies (222), Netherlands (120), England (171), India (296), Ireland (141) and Bangladesh (78). But their 7th match saw them knocked out when they failed to bowl out New Zealand and instead were themselves bowled out on 172 chasing New Zealand’s score of 221/8.
Considering the fate of South Africans in 2011 World Cup, India and New Zealand would certainly not be overwhelmed even if they win their last match to equalize the record of 6 consecutive wins by bowling out all the opponents.
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