Hagley Oval pitch report: Test, ODI and T20I records, and India’s first T20Is in Christchurch
Fourteen of the 15 captains who won the toss in a Hagley Oval Test chose to bowl, and in T20Is the side chasing has won ten of 16, India’s two this month included. Every Christchurch record, format by format.
Mar 6, 2024 · Updated Oct 24, 2026
Hagley Oval is where captains go to bowl. In 15 Tests at the Christchurch ground, 14 captains have won the toss and put the other side in, and the side batting first has won only four of those matches. That single habit explains most of this Hagley Oval pitch report, and it holds up across the numbers below, from the first Test in December 2014 to the West Indies rearguard in December 2025. The white-ball pitch tells a different story, and India’s first two T20Is at the ground, in October 2026, both went to the side chasing.
The ground sits inside Hagley Park and became Christchurch’s international venue after the 2011 earthquake ruined Lancaster Park. It has since staged the opening match of the 2015 men’s World Cup and the 2022 Women’s World Cup final. All figures here are men’s internationals unless marked, and come from the ESPNcricinfo Statsguru records for the ground.
Hagley Oval pitch report: why everyone bowls first
Captains read the Test pitch as one that helps seamers on the first morning and gets easier to bat on. The results mostly back them.
| Format | Matches | Toss-winners who bowled | Side batting first |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 15 | 14 | Won 4, lost 9, drew 2 |
| ODIs | 17 | 11 | Won 9, lost 7, 1 no result |
| T20Is | 17 | 13 | Won 6, lost 10, 1 no result |
Of the 13 Hagley Oval Tests that produced a result, the captain who won the toss finished on the winning side in 10. The average first-innings total is 288.9, which sounds healthy until you see how the second innings then goes: sides batting second have made 659/6d, 482 and 499 here, while two first-day line-ups were dismissed for under 140.
The one captain who batted first after winning the toss did win. South Africa took first use of the pitch in February 2022, made 364, and levelled the series by 198 runs eight days after being bowled out for 95 on the same ground.
Hagley Oval Test records
| Record | Figure | Match |
|---|---|---|
| Highest total | 659/6d | New Zealand v Pakistan, 2021 |
| Lowest total | 95 | South Africa v New Zealand, 2022 |
| Highest score | 252 | Tom Latham v Bangladesh, 2022 |
| Best innings bowling | 7/23 | Matt Henry v South Africa, 2022 |
| Best match bowling | 11/117 | Kyle Jamieson v Pakistan, 2021 |
| Highest fourth innings | 457/6 (draw) | West Indies v New Zealand, 2025 |
| Highest chase to win | 285/8 | New Zealand v Sri Lanka, 2023 |
New Zealand’s home record here is strong: nine wins, four defeats and two draws from 15 Tests. Three of the wins came by an innings, the biggest by an innings and 276 runs over South Africa in 2022, when Matt Henry took 7/23 on the opening day.
Three matches stand apart. Brendon McCullum reached a hundred from 54 balls against Australia in February 2016, in his final Test, and nobody has made a faster Test century since. In March 2023, Kane Williamson finished 121 not out as New Zealand chased 285 against Sri Lanka and won off the last ball, with a bye. And in December 2025, West Indies were set 531, batted 163.3 overs and finished on 457/6 for a draw. Justin Greaves made 202 not out from 388 balls, with Kemar Roach 58 not out beside him.
Most Test runs at Hagley Oval
| Batter | Tests | Runs | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Latham (NZ) | 15 | 1299 | 49.96 |
| Kane Williamson (NZ) | 12 | 979 | 48.95 |
| Henry Nicholls (NZ) | 11 | 662 | 44.13 |
| Daryl Mitchell (NZ) | 7 | 553 | 55.3 |
| Colin de Grandhomme (NZ) | 7 | 460 | 57.5 |
Most Test wickets at Hagley Oval
| Bowler | Tests | Wickets | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Southee (NZ) | 14 | 63 | 23.74 |
| Trent Boult (NZ) | 9 | 53 | 21.09 |
| Matt Henry (NZ) | 8 | 40 | 23.32 |
| Neil Wagner (NZ) | 11 | 37 | 28.43 |
| Kyle Jamieson (NZ) | 5 | 28 | 17.57 |
Tim Southee’s 63 wickets came from 14 Tests. Trent Boult took 53 from nine at a better average, 21.09, and Kyle Jamieson’s 28 from five came at 17.57, the best of any bowler with 20 or more here.
India at Hagley Oval
India arrived in Christchurch for the first two T20Is of their 2026 tour without ever having played a T20I at the ground, and they left 2-0 up in the five-match series. Both times they won the toss, chose to field and chased.
On 22 October they were set 226. Sanju Samson made 67 from 33 balls and India were 93 without loss, then 122 for 4 once Michael Bracewell and Mitchell Santner got to work. Naman Dhir finished it with a top-edged six, 42 not out from 15 balls, and India won by four wickets with two balls left. Two nights later, on the same pitch, Santner had them 70 for 5 in the 11th over chasing 181. Tilak Varma (51 not out from 26) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (26 not out from 13) added an unbeaten 69 for the seventh wicket and won it with a ball to spare.
The longer formats have gone less well. India have played one Test at the ground and lost it: in February and March 2020 they were bowled out for 242 and 124 and New Zealand won by seven wickets to take the series 2-0. Kyle Jamieson took 5/45 in the first innings and Trent Boult 4/28 in the second. India’s only ODI there, in November 2022, was washed out with New Zealand on 104/1 chasing 220, after Washington Sundar’s 51 had carried India to 219.
Our reports cover the first T20I and the second in full, and our series guide has the schedule and the head-to-head record.
Hagley Oval ODI records
The white-ball pitch plays differently. In 17 ODIs the side batting first has won nine and lost seven, and the average first-innings score is 258.9. The toss has almost no pull: the captain who won it has been on the winning side in only five of the 16 results.
| Record | Figure | Match |
|---|---|---|
| Highest total | 341/9 and 341/7 | Scotland v Canada, 2014; New Zealand v Bangladesh, 2016 |
| Lowest all-out total | 117 | Sri Lanka v New Zealand, 2015 |
| Highest score | 175 | Calum MacLeod v Canada, 2014 |
| Best bowling | 7/34 | Trent Boult v West Indies, 2017 |
Totals of 300 or more have been made six times, all by the side batting first, and all six won. New Zealand’s 331/6 against Sri Lanka opened the 2015 World Cup here. The quickest finish came in December 2015, when Sri Lanka were all out for 117 and Martin Guptill made 93 not out from 30 balls as New Zealand won by ten wickets in 8.2 overs.
| Batter | ODIs | Runs | Highest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Guptill (NZ) | 8 | 421 | 118 |
| Tom Latham (NZ) | 12 | 384 | 137 |
| Kane Williamson (NZ) | 7 | 251 | 69 |
| Ross Taylor (NZ) | 7 | 246 | 102* |
| Bowler | ODIs | Wickets | Best |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trent Boult (NZ) | 9 | 18 | 7/34 |
| Matt Henry (NZ) | 8 | 13 | 4/33 |
| Mitchell Santner (NZ) | 9 | 11 | 3/15 |
| Lockie Ferguson (NZ) | 5 | 10 | 3/17 |
The women’s game has its own history at the ground. Alyssa Healy made 170 in the 2022 World Cup final as Australia posted 356/5 and beat England by 71 runs, the highest score by anyone in a World Cup final. New Zealand Women’s 455/5 against Pakistan in 1997 is still the highest women’s ODI total on the ground.
Hagley Oval T20I records
T20Is lean the other way from the ODIs, and India’s visit pushed them further. The chasing side has won ten of the 16 completed games, 13 of the 17 captains who won the toss chose to field, and the average first-innings score is 167.1, up from 162.0 before the India series. Seven of the 17 matches were played in one October 2022 tri-series between New Zealand, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
| Record | Figure | Match |
|---|---|---|
| Highest total | 236/4 | England v New Zealand, 2025 |
| Highest successful chase | 230/6 | India v New Zealand, 2026 |
| Lowest total | 91 | Pakistan v New Zealand, 2025 |
| Highest score | 99* | Devon Conway v Australia, 2021 |
| Best bowling | 4/14 | Jacob Duffy v Pakistan, 2025 |
England’s 236/4 in October 2025 is still the highest T20I total here, but it no longer stands on its own. New Zealand made 225/4 against India on 22 October 2026, level with the 225 they made in Thiruvananthapuram in January as their best T20I total against India, and still lost, because India made 230/6 in 19.4 overs. That is the biggest successful chase at the ground, and the 455 runs in the match are the most in any T20I at Hagley Oval. Two nights later New Zealand batted first again, made 180/5 and lost again.
That makes four defeats in a row for New Zealand in completed T20Is here, against England, South Africa and India twice, and a home record of six wins and eight defeats with one washout. The lowest total is still Pakistan’s 91 in March 2025, which New Zealand knocked off in 10.1 overs.
| Batter | T20Is | Runs | Strike rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glenn Phillips (NZ) | 10 | 408 | 163.85 |
| Devon Conway (NZ) | 6 | 332 | 133.87 |
| Mohammad Rizwan (PAK) | 7 | 329 | 124.15 |
| Finn Allen (NZ) | 10 | 255 | 149.12 |
| Bowler | T20Is | Wickets | Economy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mitchell Santner (NZ) | 9 | 13 | 7.12 |
| Michael Bracewell (NZ) | 10 | 12 | 6.76 |
| Ish Sodhi (NZ) | 9 | 12 | 8.47 |
| Tim Southee (NZ) | 9 | 12 | 7.33 |
Glenn Phillips went from third to top of the run-scorers’ list in two innings against India, 82 not out from 40 balls and 70 from 43, and nobody with 100 runs here scores faster than his 163.85. Santner’s 4/21 on 24 October, the second-best figures in a T20I at the ground after Jacob Duffy’s 4/14, took him to 13 wickets and top of the list.
For the bigger picture, our Test cricket records and ODI records pages cover the all-time lists, and McCullum’s innings sits at the top of our list of the fastest Test centuries. Across the Tasman, we have the same breakdown for the SCG and the Gabba. India’s tour moves on to Wellington for the third T20I on 27 October, and our Sky Stadium pitch report has that ground’s numbers.