India travelled to New Zealand for the first time for a four-Test series in 1968. It was the third series between the two sides.
India were led by Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, while the Kiwis were under Barry Sinclair.
It turned out to be a historic series for India as they registered their first overseas Test series victory. It was also an exciting series as every match in the series produced a result, with India winning 3-1.
The first Test starting on February 15, 1968, was played at Carisbrook, Dunedin. New Zealand elected to bat and scored 350 runs, with opener Graham Dowling scoring a fine century (143) and putting on 155 runs for the second wicket with Bevan Congdon (50).
For India, fast bowler Syed Abid Ali was the most successful bowler picking up four wickets for 26.
India just got the better of the Kiwis, scoring 359 in their first innings. Ajit Wadekar topscored with 80, while wicketkeeper Farokh Engineer scored 63 to help India take a first innings lead of nine runs.
Richard Motz picked up five wickets for 86 to help bundle out the Indians on the third day.
But then the New Zealand batsmen disappointed in their second innings as they caved in to the Indian spinners scoring just 208. Erapalli Prasanna rocked the hosts with a spell of six for 94 in 40 overs. Rameshchandra 'Bapu' Nadkarni and Bishen Singh Bedi shared a wicket each, while two of the Kiwis were run out. Bruce Murray was the highest scorer with 54, while Mark Burgess (39) was the only other batsman to make a notable contribution.
Set to score 200, India achieved the target for the loss of just five wickets. Wadekar once again starred with a well-made 71 to blow away any fears of a collapse after India had lost two wickets for 49.
Brief scores:
New Zealand (1st innings): 350 (G T Dowling 143, B E Congdon 58, M G Burgess 50, S Abid Ali 4-26)
India (1st innings): 359 (A L Wadekar 80, F M Engineer 63, R C Motz 5-86, J C Alabaster 3-66)
New Zealand (2nd innings): 208 (B A G Murray 54, M G Burgess 39, E A S Prasanna 6-94)
India (2nd innings): 200-5 (A L Wadekar 71, R F Surti 44, J C Alabaster 3-48)
Result: India won by five wickets
The second Test was played at Lancaster Park, Christchurch. This time India won the toss and put the Kiwis in.
The move, however, backfired as New Zealand scored a mammoth 502. First Test centurion Graham Dowling continued his good form with the bat, scoring a double century (239). Bruce Murray (74) and Keith Thomson (69) contributed half-centuries. For India, left-arm orthodox spinner Bishen Singh Bedi took six wickets.
India struggled in their first innings and managed only 288. Rusi Surti topscored with 67, while Chandrakant 'Chandu' Borde (57) and skipper Pataudi (52) also got half-centuries.
Opening bowlers Richard Collinge and Richard Motz picked up nine wickets between them. Motz took six for 63 in his 21 overs as India were forced to follow on.
In the second innings, the Indians disappointed again as they managed just 301. Farokh Engineer was the topscorer with 63 as the hosts were left needing just 88 runs to level the series.
The Indian batting was once destroyed by a six-wicket burst, but this time Gary Bartlett did the damage picking up six for 38 in 16.5 overs.
There was no drama when the Kiwis came out to chase the required runs. Bevan Congdon led the way with a well-made 61 as the hosts won the match by six wickets. Bedi picked up two wickets in the second innings to take his match tally to eight.
Brief scores:
New Zealand (1st innings): 502 (G T Dowling 239, B A G Murray 74, K Thomson 69, B S Bedi 6-127)
India (1st innings): 288 (R F Surti 67, C G Borde 57, M A K Pataudi 52, R C Motz 6-63, R O Collinge 3-43)
India (2nd innings): 301 (F M Engineer 63, M A K Pataudi 47, R F Surti 45, G A Bartlett 6-38)
New Zealand (2nd innings): 88-4 (B E Congdon 61, B S Bedi 2-21)
Result: New Zealand won by six wickets
The series was now poised for an exciting finish, with two more Tests to go.
The third Test started on leap year's day, February 29, with both sides looking to take the initiative in the series. New Zealand's skipper for the match Graham Dowling won the toss and elected to bat. But the Indian bowlers put on a gritty display to dismiss the Kiwis for just 186.
The only half-century in the innings came from Mark Burgess, who scored 66. Off-spinner Erapalli Prasanna picked up five wickets for 32, while left-arm medium-pacer Rusi Surti took three for 44.
The Indian batting carried on the good work, scoring 327 to take a lead of 141 runs.
Man-in-form Ajit Wadekar led the batting with a brilliant 143, but none of the other batsmen could cross the 50 mark.
Bruce Taylor with 3 for 59 and Richard Collinge with 3 for 65 helped restrict the Indians.
In their second essay, New Zealand once again found the going difficult and were bowled out for 199. Burgess scored his second half-century (60) of the match, but that was not enough to rescue his team.
Bapu Nadkarni came up with a brilliant spell of six for 43 in 30 overs and Prasanna took three for 56. Bedi picked up one for 42 as the Kiwis lost all their wickets to the Indian spinners.
Set a target of 59, India romped home with the loss of just two wickets.
This crucial victory gave India an unbeatable 2-1 advantage with just one Test match to go.
Brief scores:
New Zealand (1st innings): 186 (M G Burgess 66, K Thomson 25, Prasanna 5-32, R F Surti 3-44)
India (1st innings): 327 (A L Wadekar 143, F M Engineer 44, B R Taylor 3-59, R O Collinge 3-65)
New Zealand (2nd innings): 199 (M G Burgess 60, B E Congdon 51, R G Nadkarni 6-43, E A S Prasanna 3-56)
India (2nd innings): 59-2 (S Abid Ali 36)
Result: India won by eight wickets
India went into the fourth Test with a chance of creating history. It was a wonderful opportunity for the team to register a Test series win overseas for the first time.
Pataudi won the toss and elected to bat in the Test, which began on March 7 at Eden Park, Auckland.
India were bowled out for 252. Pataudi scored a half-century (51) and wicket-keeper Engineer scored 44 to help India post a decent first innings score.
For New Zealand, Richard Motz picked up four wickets for 51, while Gary Bartlett took three for 66.
It was up to the Kiwis batsmen now to put up a huge first innings score and put the Indians under pressure.
But they surrendered tamely, being dismissed for just 140. Prasanna again rocked the tourists, picking up four for 44 in 28.1 overs. Bedi supported him well, taking two for 21 in 17 overs. India thus gained a valuable lead of 112 runs.
The Indian batsmen then replied in positive fashion, scoring 261 for 5 before Pataudi declared the innings closed. Surti was unlucky to be dismissed on 99; it was the closest he ever got to a century in his Test career.
Chandrakant Borde was unbeaten on 65 as India set the hosts a huge target of 374 in the fourth innings.
The Kiwi batsmen once again crumbled to the Indian spinners and the side was bowled out for a lowly 101. They lost the match by 272 runs, handing India the series 3-1.
Prasanna again picked up four wickets and Bedi took three as Pataudi became the first Indian captain to win a Test series abroad.
Brief scores:
India (1st innings): 252 (M A K Pataudi 51, F M Engineer 44, R C Motz 4-51, G A Bartlett 3-66)
New Zealand (1st innings): 140 (B E Congdon 27, E A S Prasanna 4-44, B S Bedi 2-21)
India (2nd innings): 261-5 decl (R F Surti 99, C G Borde 65, F M Engineer 48, B R Taylor 2-60)
New Zealand (2nd innings): 101 (G T Dowling 37, E A S Prasanna 4-40, B S Bedi 3-14)
Result: India won by 272 runs
Series result: India won 3-1
Top batting performances for India:
| Batsman | Mts | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | 100 | 50 | Avg | Ct | St |
| C G Borde | 4 | 7 | 2 | 242 | 65* | 0 | 2 | 48.40 | 1 | 0 |
| A L Wadekar | 4 | 8 | 1 | 328 | 143 | 1 | 2 | 46.86 | 10 | 0 |
| R F Surti | 4 | 8 | 1 | 321 | 99 | 0 | 2 | 45.86 | 4 | 0 |
| F M Engineer | 4 | 8 | 0 | 321 | 63 | 0 | 2 | 40.13 | 8 | 2 |
| M A K Pataudi | 4 | 7 | 0 | 221 | 52 | 0 | 2 | 31.57 | 4 | 0 |
For New Zealand:
| Batsman | Mts | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | 100 | 50 | Avg | Ct | St |
| G T Dowling | 4 | 8 | 0 | 471 | 239 | 2 | 0 | 58.88 | 2 | 0 |
| B E Congdon | 4 | 8 | 1 | 240 | 61* | 0 | 3 | 34.29 | 3 | 0 |
| M G Burgess | 4 | 8 | 0 | 271 | 66 | 0 | 3 | 33.88 | 3 | 0 |
| K Thomson | 2 | 4 | 1 | 94 | 69 | 0 | 1 | 31.33 | 0 | 0 |
| B A G Murray | 4 | 8 | 0 | 197 | 74 | 0 | 2 | 24.63 | 8 | 0 |
| B R Taylor | 3 | 6 | 0 | 73 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 12.17 | 1 | 0 |
| R C Motz | 4 | 7 | 0 | 71 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 10.14 | 1 | 0 |
| V Pollard | 4 | 8 | 0 | 73 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 9.13 | 6 | 0 |
Top bowling performances for India:
| Bowler | M | O | M | R | W | Best | 5W/I | 10W/M | Avg | S/R | Eco |
| R G Nadkarni | 4 | 185.3 | 90 | 251 | 14 | 6-43 | 1 | 0 | 17.93 | 79.50 | 1.35 |
| E A S Prasanna | 4 | 197.5 | 63 | 451 | 24 | 6-94 | 2 | 0 | 18.79 | 49.46 | 2.28 |
| S Abid Ali | 4 | 63 | 19 | 132 | 6 | 4-26 | 0 | 0 | 22.00 | 63.00 | 2.10 |
| B S Bedi | 4 | 176.1 | 65 | 371 | 16 | 6-127 | 1 | 0 | 23.19 | 66.06 | 2.11 |
| R F Surti | 4 | 88.4 | 17 | 259 | 7 | 3/44 | 0 | 0 | 37.00 | 76.00 | 2.93 |
For New Zealand:
| Bowler | M | O | M | R | W | Best | 5W/I | 10W/M | Avg | S/R | Eco |
| G A Bartlett | 2 | 71.5 | 18 | 196 | 10 | 6/38 | 1 | 0 | 19.60 | 43.10 | 2.74 |
| R C Motz | 4 | 145.4 | 41 | 403 | 15 | 6/63 | 2 | 0 | 26.87 | 58.27 | 2.77 |
| J C Alabaster | 4 | 146 | 41 | 382 | 12 | 3/48 | 0 | 0 | 31.83 | 73.00 | 2.62 |
| R O Collinge | 2 | 60.2 | 13 | 194 | 6 | 3/43 | 0 | 0 | 32.33 | 60.33 | 3.22 |
| B R Taylor | 3 | 109.1 | 23 | 285 | 8 | 3/59 | 0 | 0 | 35.63 | 81.88 | 2.61 |
