The Indian cricket team ended their ODI series against New Zealand on a high as Ambati Rayudu and Hardik Pandya guided the visitors to victory in the fifth encounter in Wellington on Sunday.

Thanks to their 4-1 series win, India became the third team to defeat the Kiwis in four or more ODIs in a bilateral series in New Zealand.

The feat was first achieved by Australia in 1999/00 when they defeated New Zealand 4-1 in a six-match series and was repeated once year later by Sri Lanka who won 4-1 in a five-match series.

Australia emulated their performance once again in 2004/05 tour where the Aussies scripted a clean sweep of 5-0.

This was the second bilateral ODI series win for India in New Zealand after MS Dhoni-led side had scripted history in 2009. The 4-1 scoreline was the best performance for them as they won 3-1 in the earlier instance.

The Indian cricket team were at their best as they won the first three matches of the series to take a 3-0 lead.

After skipper Virat Kohli’s departure, they suffered a heavy defeat in the fourth ODI after they were dismissed for just 92 runs but the visiting side bounced back in the fifth match Sunday to score 252 before winning by 35 runs.

First Published: Feb 03, 2019 21:24 IST