Pakistan has
always been a team to watch out for, this December they are touring New Zealand to play Two
Test matches, a look at their previous tours to New Zealand
1. Pakistan in
New Zealand – 1964 to 1983 – 9 tests – 0 NZ – 2 Pakistan – 7 Draws
During this
era, Pakistan toured New Zealand three times in 1964, 1972 and 1978 and won two
of them, Players like Mustaque Mohammed, Imran Khan, Majid Khan were
instrumental in these series wins. However, majority of these the Tests were dull
draws. Out of nine tests, seven ended in draw.
 |
| Jermy Coney and Ewan Chatfield sealed one of the finest victories by New Zealand in March 1985 |
2. Pakistan in
New Zealand – 1983 to 1991- 5 Tests- 2 NZ – 0 Pakistan – 3 Draws
Pakistan
toured New Zealand twice at time when the series were billed as Imran vs
Hadlee. In 1983-84, Imran did not tour with the team and Hadlee proved too hot
to handle for a Pakistani team which has only few weeks earlier had won Test
series 2-0 in Pakistan, the result reversed in New Zealand when the home side
registered a historic 2-0 series win with a thrilling win at Carisbrook at
Dunedin. In 1988-89 the series was dominated by the batsmen with some batting
belters available.
3. Pakistan in New
Zealand - 1992 to 2002- 8 Tests- 2 NZ – 5 Pakistan – 1 Draw
An era of utter domination for Pakistan who won 3 times out of 4 assignments during this decade thanks to great Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis whose utter genius have covered the inept batting at number of times. Hamilton 1992, Auckland 1994, and Christchurch 1995 were three occasions on which Pakistan’s bowlers won the match when they have lagged behind for majority of the matches. NZ shared the 2001 series with Pakistan but there was no doubt that their home record was seriously dented by both the Ws’. Wasim Akram is the highest wicket taker by a Non-New Zealand bowler on Kiwi Soil (50 wickets in 7 Tests at 17.18) while Waqar Younis (34 wickets in 8 Tests at 27.17) is at no.6 in this list.
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| Wasim and Waqar dominated New Zealand throughout 90s |
4. Pakistan in
New Zealand - 2003 to 2019- 9 Tests- 3 NZ – 3 Pakistan – 3 Draw
In the
recent era Pakistan and NZ have almost been on par with 3 wins each. However,
Pakistan have won two Tests series against New Zealand’s one during this
period. Things have been on rise for New Zealand since 2011 World Cup. Just
like 1992 World Cup Semi-final between the two sides started a span where for
next 19 years (1992-2011) Pakistan had a psychological advantage over New
Zealand, the 2011 World Cup match between two sides was the signal of reversal
of fortunes and since then in 9 years of span-New Zealand had got the better of
Pakistan in UAE, on neutral venues as well as in NZ. The trend has continued in
all the three formats barring few Pakistani surprises during this time.
 |
| New Zealand's pace battery holds the edge |
Pakistan in
New Zealand - 2020 - 2 Tests - What to Expect?
While experts
have cited number of reasons why New Zealand must win this series but then they
are facing the most unpredictable team in international cricket and no body
knows what we can expect from Pakistan cricket team. The 2003-04 and 2010-11
series are two examples when the tourists didn’t start as favourites and it was
expected that the home team will register a rare series win against them. However,
on both the occasions, Pakistan defied all the predictions to win the series. Therefore, it will be interesting series
between a side which has been rising all the time and the side which has some
of the most talented youngsters.
Test Record: New Zealand vs Pakistan
|
Places |
Tests |
New Zealand |
Pakistan |
Draw |
|
New Zealand |
31 |
7 |
10 |
14 |
|
Pakistan |
21 |
2 |
13 |
6 |
|
UAE |
6 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
Total |
58 |
12 |
25 |
21 |
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