Basin Reserve pitch report: Test and ODI records and stats in Wellington

The Basin Reserve in Wellington has hosted 70 Tests since January 1930, and it hosts the first Test of India’s tour of New Zealand from 19 to 23 November 2026, starting at 11am local time (3.30am IST). It is a ground that rewards the side bowling first. Across those 70 Tests the team batting second has won 30 and the team batting first 16, and captains who won the toss and chose to bat have won only five of the 29 Tests in which they did so.

India have one Test win here, in 1968. This page covers the pitch, what the toss is worth, India’s full record at the ground and the Test and ODI records, worked out from the scorecard of every men’s international played at the Basin.

Basin Reserve at a glance

Location	Wellington, New Zealand (the sponsored name is the Cello Basin Reserve)
First Test	New Zealand v England, 24 January 1930 (drawn)
Men’s Tests	70, the latest New Zealand v West Indies in December 2025
Men’s ODIs	33 (1975 to January 2025)
Men’s T20Is	None
New Zealand’s Test record	Won 24, lost 22, drawn 24
India’s Test record	Played 8: won 1, lost 5, drawn 2
Next Test	New Zealand v India, 1st Test, 19-23 November 2026

Wellington’s limited-overs cricket now mostly goes to the city’s bigger stadium: India’s T20I and ODI on this tour are at the Wellington Regional Stadium, and the Basin has staged only six ODIs since 2005. It is the oldest first-class ground in New Zealand and the only cricket ground with a heritage listing from Heritage New Zealand.

Basin Reserve pitch report: what the record says

The first-innings average across all 70 Tests is 312.3. It has gone up rather than down in the modern game: 319.4 across the 35 Tests since 2000 and 339.4 across the 20 since 2010, before settling at 314.4 across the 14 played since 2015. Those are good batting numbers, and yet the side batting first has been the side more likely to lose.

Test results at the Basin Reserve	All 70 Tests	Since 2000 (35)
Won by the side batting first	16	10
Won by the side batting second	30	16
Drawn	24	9

Captains have worked this out. Toss-winners have chosen to bowl in 41 of the 70 Tests, and in 18 of the 20 since 2010. When they have chosen to bat instead the record is poor: five wins, 14 defeats and 10 draws from 29 Tests. The two most recent captains to do it, in the 20 Tests since 2010, won one and drew one.

The ground also produces fewer draws than it used to. Fifteen of the first 35 Tests here were drawn and only nine of the 35 since 2000, so a visiting side cannot plan to bat out five days. New Zealand have used that well lately: since 2015 they have won nine Tests here, lost four and drawn one, although Australia in 2024 and England in December 2024 both won at the ground.

India at the Basin Reserve

India’s only win came on their first visit. Under Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi they won the third Test of the 1967-68 series by eight wickets on the way to a 3-1 series victory. In seven Tests since, they have lost five and drawn two. The last visit, in February 2020, ended in a 10-wicket defeat, with India bowled out for 165 and 191.

Start date	Result	India’s innings
29 Feb 1968	India won by 8 wickets	327 and 59/2
13 Feb 1976	New Zealand won by an innings and 33 runs	220 and 81
21 Feb 1981	New Zealand won by 62 runs	223 and 190
26 Dec 1998	New Zealand won by 4 wickets	208 and 356
12 Dec 2002	New Zealand won by 10 wickets	161 and 121
3 Apr 2009	Drawn	379 and 434/7d
14 Feb 2014	Drawn	438 and 166/3
21 Feb 2020	New Zealand won by 10 wickets	165 and 191

India’s 81 in 1976 is their lowest total at the ground; Richard Hadlee took 7 for 23 in that innings, still the best figures in a Test innings here. The 2014 Test is the one Indian fans remember: Ajinkya Rahane made 118 and Virat Kohli 105 not out, but Brendon McCullum’s 302 took New Zealand to 680 for 8 declared and saved the match. Sachin Tendulkar has the most Test runs for India at the Basin, 290 in three Tests.

Basin Reserve Test records

Record	Holder
Highest total	680/8d, New Zealand v India, 2014
Second-highest total	671/4, New Zealand v Sri Lanka, 1991
Highest by a visiting side	660/5d, West Indies, 1995
Lowest total	42, New Zealand v Australia, 1946
Highest individual score	Brendon McCullum, 302 v India, 2014
Best bowling, innings	Richard Hadlee, 7/23 v India, 1976
Best bowling, match	Courtney Walsh, 13/55 for West Indies, 1995
Most runs	Kane Williamson, 1,591 in 18 Tests (average 63.64)
Most wickets	Tim Southee, 63 in 18 Tests
Highest partnership	467, Andrew Jones and Martin Crowe v Sri Lanka, 1991

McCullum’s 302 is still the only Test triple-hundred by a New Zealander. Martin Crowe came within one run of one at the same ground in 1991, out for 299 during the 467-run stand with Andrew Jones that remains New Zealand’s highest Test partnership and was the world record when it was made. New Zealand’s 42 in 1946 came in a Test where they were also bowled out for 54, so both of the ground’s two lowest totals came in a single match. Walsh’s 13 for 55 set up an innings-and-322-run win for West Indies.

Among bowlers, Southee passed Chris Martin’s 60 to lead the list, with Daniel Vettori (57) and Hadlee (53) next. Hadlee’s 53 cost only 20.28 each. Williamson, with five Test hundreds here, sits more than 300 runs clear of Ross Taylor’s 1,279.

Basin Reserve ODI records

Twenty-seven of the Basin’s 33 ODIs were played before 2000, and only six since. The side batting first won 16 and the chasing side 12, with five no results. India played four ODIs here between 1990 and 1999, winning two, losing one, with one no result.

ODI record	Holder
Highest total	318/6, New Zealand v Bangladesh, 2021
Highest individual score	126* Shoaib Mohammad (Pakistan), 1989; 126 Devon Conway (New Zealand), 2021
Best bowling	Terry Alderman, 5/17 for Australia, 1982
Most runs	Martin Crowe, 345
Most wickets	Danny Morrison, 16

Basin Reserve: quick answers

Is the Basin Reserve a batting or bowling pitch? It scores well, with a first-innings average above 310, but results favour the side batting second, 30 wins to 16. Most captains who win the toss bowl first.

When do India play at the Basin Reserve? The first Test of the 2026 tour, 19-23 November, starting 3.30am IST each day. The second Test follows at Hagley Oval, Christchurch, from 27 November.

Have India ever won a Test at the Basin Reserve? Once, by eight wickets in 1968. They have lost five and drawn two of the seven since.

For the other grounds on India’s tour, see our guides to Eden Park, Bay Oval and Seddon Park.

Photo credit: Alamy

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