When the Nawab's men ruled

New Zealand's second Test series against India was a long time coming. After the exciting series of 1955-56, the second one was played nine years later, in 1965.

On their second visit to India in February and March 1965, the Kiwis played four Test matches, all four-day encounters. The series marked the advent of the great off-spinner Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan, who picked up 21 wickets in the four Tests. Chandrakant Borde and Dilip Sardesai impressed with the bat, scoring 371 and 360 runs in the series, respectively.

For the tourists, Bruce Taylor produced a sterling all-round performance, picking up 15 wickets in three matches and also scoring 158 runs. Bert Sutcliffe was again the highest scorer for them with 274 runs at an average of 45.67.

The first Test, starting February 27, was played at the Corporation Stadium, Madras. The Nawab of Pataudi, Jr, captained the Indian side, while the tourists were led by John Reid.

Winning the toss, India elected to bat and were given a good start by openers Sardesai and M L Jaisimha, who put on 51 runs. But the highlight of the Indian innings was a gritty 90 by wicket-keeper Farokh Engineer, which helped India post a decent 397. The other major contributors were Rameshchandra 'Bapu' Nadkarni with 75 and Borde with 68.

New Zealand's first innings was restricted by some good bowling from the Indian spinners. Salim Durani (3-53), debutant Venkat (2-90), Nadkarni (2-42), and Borde (1-18) picked up eight wickets among them as New Zealand were bowled out for 315, giving India a first innings lead of 82.

The veteran Sutcliffe, who had had a successful tour of India in 1955-56, again proved a tough nut, scoring 56 in the New Zealand first innings.

Having gained the upper hand in the match, the Indians tried to force the pace of scoring. Vijay Manjrekar's brilliant knock of 102 not out helped the team post 199 for 2 declared.

Set a target of 282, New Zealand openers Terrence Jarvis (40 not out) and Graham Dowling (21 not out) negotiated 21 overs on the final day.

Brief scores:
India (1st innings): 397 all out (F M Engineer 90, R G Nadkarni 75, C G Borde 68, M L Jaisimha 51)
New Zealand (1st innings): 315 all out (B Sutcliffe 56, J R Reid 42, S A Durani 3-53)
India (2nd innings): 199-2 decl (V L Manjrekar 102*, M L Jaisimha 49)
New Zealand (2nd innings): 62-0 (T W Jarvis 40)
Result: Draw

The teams moved to Eden Gardens, Calcutta, for the second Test. John Reid won the toss and without any hesitation elected to bat.

The Kiwis enjoyed batting first on the Eden Gardens pitch and posted a huge first innings score of 462 for 9 declared.

Sutcliffe, the usual suspect, put the Indian bowling to the sword as he scored 151. All-rounder Bruce Taylor, batting at number eight, also helped himself to a century, an aggressive 105, including 14 fours and three sixes.

Fast bowler Ramakant Desai was the most successful bowler for India, picking up four wickets for 128.

India's innings witnessed a scintillating batting display by skipper , Jr. Pataudi slammed 153, but India still managed only 380 all out in their first innings, giving New Zealand a lead of 82 runs. Centurion Taylor destroyed India's batting with a remarkable spell of 5 for 86 in 23.5 overs.

India then hit back to reduce the Kiwis in their second innings to 191 for 9 before Reid applied the closure. Venkat picked up 3 wickets for 15 in 17 overs.

But in their second essay, India managed just 92 runs for the loss of 3 wickets as the match ended in a draw.

Brief scores:
New Zealand (1st innings): 462-9 decl (B Sutcliffe 151, B R Taylor 105, J R Reid 82, R B Desai 4-128)
India (1st innings): 380 all out (M A K Pataudi 153, C G Borde 62, B R Taylor 5-86)
New Zealand (2nd innings): 191-9 decl (V Pollard 43, G Vivian 43, S Venkataraghavan 3-15)
India (2nd innings): 92-3 (F M Engineer 45)
Result: Draw

The third Test of the series was played at the Brabourne Stadium, Bombay. New Zealand again elected to bat on winning the toss. Opener Graham Dowling, who later became captain and then chief executive of New Zealand Cricket, led the batting with a well-made 129 as New Zealand scored 297. But Ramakant Desai was in excellent form on his home ground as he single-handedly destroyed the Kiwis, picking up six wickets for 56 runs in his 25 overs.

What followed, however, was absolute disaster!

India were bundled out for 88 in their first innings, their lowest Test score against the Kiwis then. Chandrakant Borde (25) and Farokh Engineer (17) were the only two batsmen to get into double figures.

Taylor was again the bowling hero, picking up five wickets for 26 runs.

Following on, however, India were determined to set things right and opener Dilip Sardesai, another Bombay player, slammed a double century after the loss of two early wickets.

Sardesai (200) and Borde (109) helped India reach a respectable 463 for 5. The innings was promptly declared once Sardesai reached his double century.

Set a target of 255 in the fourth innings, New Zealand struggled against the Indian spinners, but survived to end at 80 for 8. Just two wickets separated India from a famous win.

Leg-break bowler Bhagwat Chandrasekhar picked up three wickets for 25 runs, with able support from Salim Durani (2-16).

Brief scores:
New Zealand (1st innings): 297 all out (G T Dowling 129, R W Morgan 71, R B Desai 6-56)
India (1st innings): 80 all out (C G Borde 25, B R Taylor 5-26)
India (2nd innings): 463-5 decl (D N Sardesai 200*, C G Borde 109, Hanumant Singh 75*, B R Taylor 3-76)
New Zealand (2nd innings): 80-8 (B R Taylor 21, B S Chandrasekhar 3-25, S A Durani 2-16)
Result: Draw

The fourth Test was played at the Ferozeshah Kotla, Delhi. Reid won his third consecutive toss and again elected to bat. But this time the Kiwi batsman failed to take advantage and were bowled out for 262. Ross Morgan was the top scorer with 82, but the rest failed to come to terms with Venkat's off-spin.

All the wickets were taken by the spinners. Venkat picked up eight for 96, while Chandrasekhar chipped in with two for 96.

Lifted by the bowling performance, India posted a huge first innings total to put pressure on the tourists. Skipper Pataudi top-scored with 113, while Dilip Sardesai scored 106 as India scored 465 for 8 declared, a lead of 203 runs.

In their second innings, the Kiwis disappointed once again, scoring just 272, leaving India an easy target of 70 runs to win the final Test and the series. Venkat was once again the top wicket-taker with four for 80.

India then quickly knocked off the required runs in 9.1 overs to win the four-Test series 1-0.

Brief scores:
New Zealand (1st innings): 262 all out (R W Morgan 82, B E Congdon 48, S Venkataraghavan 8-72)
India (1st innings): 465-8 decl (D N Sardesai 106, M A K Pataudi 113, Hanumant Singh 82, C G Borde 87, R O Collinge 4-89)
New Zealand (2nd innings): 272 all out (T W Jarvis 77, B Sutcliffe 54, R Collinge 54, S Venkataraghavan 4-80)
India (2nd innings): 73-3 (M A K Pataudi 29, D N Sardesai 28)
Result: India won by 7 wickets
Series result: India won 1-0.

For New Zealand:

Top bowling performances for India:

For New Zealand:

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