Match overview

New Zealand Cricket beat India Cricket by 25 runs at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on 1 November 2024. New Zealand posted 235 in the first innings, conceded a 28-run deficit after India scored 263, then added 174 in their second innings to set India 147 to win. India were bowled out for 121 in the fourth innings. Ajaz Patel was the central figure across the four days, taking 11/160 across 35.8 overs to claim the Player of the Match award. New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat on a surface that, true to form at this ground, tightened its grip on spinners as the game progressed.

The margin looks tight at 25 runs, but the fourth innings was not particularly close. India's pursuit never gathered any momentum and the pitch offered Patel sharp turn throughout. A target that on another surface might have been routine proved well beyond reach once the surface had done its work over three days of Test cricket.

For New Zealand, this result forms part of a strong run against India in 2024. Their recent form across five matches reads W, W, L, L, W, with both wins coming against India and the losses against Sri Lanka Cricket. India's corresponding sequence shows back-to-back defeats to New Zealand sandwiched around three consecutive wins over Bangladesh Cricket.

Venue and conditions

Wankhede Stadium has a well-established reputation as a spinner's venue, particularly as a Test match moves into its third and fourth innings. Across 196 matches in our records, the average first-innings score is 186 and the average second-innings score is 171, both figures that reflect how the surface tends to slow and turn as time passes. Both teams exceeded the first-innings average in this match, with New Zealand scoring 235 and India 263, but by the time the fourth innings arrived the ground's true nature had reasserted itself.

The toss holds real significance here: teams winning the toss have opted to field on 71% of occasions according to our data, reflecting how much easier conditions generally are for batting on day one. New Zealand bucked that trend by choosing to bat first, which may have reflected confidence in their ability to set a total and then bowl India out twice. The venue's chase success rate sits at 55% across all recorded matches, but that aggregate figure conceals how difficult fourth-innings chases become once the pitch has genuinely broken up.

Spinners with a strong record at Wankhede have historically shaped outcomes here. Patel's match haul of 11/160 in 35.8 overs in this game adds to his own record of 14/225 from December 2021 at the same ground. R Ashwin's 12/167 across 64.5 overs in December 2016 and Monty Panesar's 11/210 across 69 overs in November 2012 confirm the pattern: left-arm and off-spin have been the primary wicket-taking tools at this venue across multiple generations.

How to watch

Test cricket between India and New Zealand is broadcast in the United Kingdom on Sky Sports Cricket. Streaming is available through Sky Go for existing subscribers and NOW TV for those without a full Sky package. For a five-day Test, UK viewers will generally find the first session beginning mid-morning depending on the start time in Mumbai, which is 5.5 hours ahead of GMT.

BBC Radio's Test Match Special also covers major Test series involving India, offering full ball-by-ball commentary for UK listeners who prefer radio. Coverage schedules and session times are published on the BBC Sport website ahead of each day's play.

Recent form

New Zealand's 2024 form shows two wins over India in this series alongside losses to Sri Lanka Cricket. The back-to-back defeats to Sri Lanka suggest their pace-friendly conditions away from home remain a vulnerability, but on spinning surfaces in the subcontinent, New Zealand have clearly found something that works. Patel's presence gives them a match-winner on this type of pitch.

India's recent record includes three wins over Bangladesh Cricket, which followed the pattern of dominant home performances on subcontinent surfaces. The defeats to New Zealand, home and in a series they would have expected to control, represent an unusual dip. In 111 meetings across all formats, India hold 55 wins to New Zealand's 41, so New Zealand's current run is a genuine deviation from the historical pattern. The next encounters between these two sides will carry additional weight given how this series has unfolded.