Match overview

New Zealand Cricket beat India Cricket by 8 wickets at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on 16 October 2024, in one of the most remarkable results in recent Test history on Indian soil. India won the toss and chose to bat, then were dismissed for 46, a total that falls well short of the ground's average first-innings score of 196 across 142 matches. New Zealand responded with 402, built a lead of 356, and despite India's recovery to 462 in the third innings, knocked off the target of 107 for the loss of just 2 wickets. Rachin Ravindra was named Player of the Match.

The margin of 8 wickets flatters New Zealand only slightly. Their first-innings lead of 356 was the decisive moment in the match, and India's third-innings 462 was too little, too late. Matt Henry's 8 wickets for 117 runs across the game was the outstanding bowling performance, and New Zealand's batting unit showed the composure needed to finish the job under modest pressure.

For India, the collapse to 46 is the story that will define the result. They came in on the back of five consecutive wins against Bangladesh Cricket, but that form counted for nothing once Henry and his colleagues found movement at a venue that had historically been relatively kind to batters.

Venue and conditions

M. Chinnaswamy Stadium has hosted 142 international matches, with an average first-innings score of 196 and an average second-innings score of 177. Those numbers suggest a reasonably competitive surface, and a chase success rate of 55 per cent points to a ground where batting second carries a marginal advantage. Toss winners at this venue elect to field 76 per cent of the time in the data, which makes India's decision to bat a notable one.

India's 46 all out is an extreme outlier relative to those averages. It was not a surface-related collapse in any conventional sense; the ground's record suggests 196 runs is the expected benchmark, so New Zealand's bowling was exceptional rather than the pitch being unplayable. Henry and his colleagues found something early that India's batters could not handle.

Spinners have historically been rewarded at Chinnaswamy when the pitch wears. Ravichandran Ashwin took 8 wickets for 125 runs here in a Test in March 2017, and Nathan Lyon claimed 8 for 132 in the same match, confirming that the ground can turn significantly as a Test progresses. That dynamic did not become a dominant factor in this particular game, given how quickly the first innings concluded.

How to watch

Test cricket between India and New Zealand is broadcast in the UK on Sky Sports Cricket, with streaming available through Sky Go and NOW TV. For Tests staged in India during the northern hemisphere autumn, live coverage typically begins in the morning UK time given the five-and-a-half-hour time difference between the UK and Bengaluru. Each of the five scheduled days will have separate broadcast windows; check Sky Sports listings for start times.

BBC Radio Test Match Special also provides commentary for high-profile Test series, particularly those involving England or broadcast under ICC arrangements. For listeners who prefer audio, TMS is available on BBC Sounds throughout the series.

Recent form

India arrived at Bengaluru having won all five of their most recent fixtures against Bangladesh Cricket in 2024, a sequence that suggested a settled and confident squad. Dismissal for 46 in the opening innings was therefore all the more surprising, and the result represents a significant check on India's home-series momentum.

New Zealand's recent form was more mixed. Their last five results included losses to Sri Lanka Cricket (twice) and West Indies Cricket, with wins only against Papua New Guinea and Uganda. A victory over India in India, in a Test match, is by some distance the most significant result New Zealand's cricket side has produced in that stretch. It will give their squad and backroom staff considerable confidence heading into the rest of the series, and India will need to recalibrate quickly if they are to prevent New Zealand pushing further into the overall head-to-head record, where India currently lead 55 wins to 41.