New Zealand's 48-year English drought

England's one-day series victory against Sri Lanka in October ended a 25-year drought . It was their first win in Sri Lanka since their first tour to the island in 1981-82. This week we look at teams that have had to wait the longest before beating a particular opponent in Tests and one-day internationals.

New Zealand played their first Test against England in Christchurch in 1929-30 but it was 48 years and 46 matches later - in February 1978 - that they first beat England in a Test. Richard Hadlee played a vital role in the maiden victory in Wellington, as England were bowled out for 64 while chasing a target of 137.

New Zealand's first Test win in England was at Headingley in 1983, when Lance Cairns turned in a match-winning spell of 10 for 144 to level the series 1-1. However, they lost the remaining two Tests and the head-to-head series record at the time was 15-0 to England. It was only during England's visit in 1983-84 that New Zealand registered their first series victory by winning at Christchurch. On the next tour of England in 1986, New Zealand won the second Test at Trent Bridge by eight wickets - Hadlee took ten wickets in the match - and they held on to their 1-0 lead to register their first overseas series win against England.

Most matches until a first win - Tests

Team	Opposition	Mat	From	To	Diff
New Zealand	England	47	10 Jan 1930	15 Feb 1978	48y 36d
India	West Indies	24	10 Nov 1948	10 Mar 1971	22y 120d
India	England	14	25 Jun 1932	10 Feb 1952	19y 230d
New Zealand	South Africa	11	27 Feb 1932	4 Jan 1962	29y 311d
New Zealand	India	10	19 Nov 1955	27 Feb 1968	12y 100d
New Zealand	Pakistan	10	13 Oct 1955	2 Nov 1969	14y 20d
Sri Lanka	New Zealand	10	4 Mar 1983	9 Dec 1992	9y 280d
Sri Lanka	Australia	10	22 Apr 1983	11 Sep 1999	16y 142d
India	Australia	9	28 Nov 1947	24 Dec 1959	12y 26d
South Africa	England	8	12 Mar 1889	4 Jan 1906	16y 298d
Sri Lanka	Pakistan	7	5 Mar 1982	18 Mar 1986	4y 13d
Bangladesh	Zimbabwe	6	19 Apr 2001	10 Jan 2005	3y 266d
South Africa	Australia	5	11 Oct 1902	13 Jan 1911	8y 94d
West Indies	England	5	23 Jun 1928	26 Feb 1930	1y 248d
New Zealand	West Indies	5	8 Feb 1952	13 Mar 1956	4y 34d
New Zealand	Australia	5	29 Mar 1946	13 Mar 1974	27y 349d
India	Sri Lanka	5	17 Sep 1982	31 Dec 1986	4y 105d
Pakistan	South Africa	5	19 Jan 1995	2 Mar 1998	3y 42d
Sri Lanka	South Africa	5	25 Aug 1993	23 Jul 2000	6y 333d

India's record against West Indies up to the 1970-71 tour is the second-longest streak without a win in Tests. From 1948, when West Indies toured India for the first time, up to 1966-67, India played West Indies in 23 Tests of which they lost 12 and drew 11. The series record was 5-0 in West Indies' favour. The 1970-71 tour began with a draw in Kingston before India went 1-0 up in the second Test in Trinidad. It was their first Test victory against West Indies and they drew the next three games to record their maiden series win in the Caribbean.

New Zealand took only five Tests to register their first win against Australia, but in recent times they have gone 17 matches - 11 defeats and six draws - without a victory against their trans-Tasman rivals. New Zealand's last success was in Auckland in 1993 when they chased a target of 201 with five wickets in hand. They came close to winning in Brisbane in 2001 but they finished the last day on 274 for 6, 10 short of victory.

In the 1980s , West Indies had an outstanding record against England. They won 17 of the 24 games played in that decade and lost none. During the next ten years, their record against England slipped: they won 12 and lost seven out of 26 games. Since 2000, however, England have been dominant. They've played West Indies in 17 Tests, out of which they've won 13 and lost only one. The lone defeat was at Edgbaston in June 2000.

Most matches since the last win - Tests

Team	Opposition	Mat	From	To	Diff
New Zealand	Australia	17	16 Mar 1993	29 Mar 2005	12y 13d
West Indies	England	16	17 Jun 2000	19 Jun 2007	7y 2d
Pakistan	Australia	12	4 Dec 1995	5 Jan 2005	9y 32d
West Indies	South Africa	8	23 Apr 2001	3 May 2005	4y 10d
West Indies	New Zealand	8	23 Apr 1996	29 Mar 2006	9y 340d
Sri Lanka	Australia	7	11 Sep 1999	13 Jul 2004	4y 306d
West Indies	India	7	22 May 2002	2 Jul 2006	4y 41d
South Africa	Australia	6	18 Mar 2002	4 Apr 2006	4y 17d
England	Australia	6	28 Aug 2005	5 Jan 2007	1y 130d
India	New Zealand	5	25 Oct 1999	20 Oct 2003	3y 360d
Zimbabwe	India	4	18 Jun 2001	22 Sep 2005	4y 96d
India	Pakistan	4	20 Mar 2005	1 Feb 2006	0y 318d
New Zealand	South Africa	4	22 Mar 2004	7 May 2006	2y 46d
South Africa	Sri Lanka	4	19 Nov 2002	8 Aug 2006	3y 262d
Pakistan	England	4	3 Dec 2005	20 Aug 2006	0y 260d
West Indies	Pakistan	4	29 May 2005	1 Dec 2006	1y 186d

In the one-day format, New Zealand didn't have to wait as long as they did in Tests to notch up their first win against England. After eight matches, which included five losses and three no-results, spanning nine and a half years, New Zealand beat England for the first time during the World Series in 1983. It was a thrilling finish at the MCG with Vic Marks needing to score three off the last ball for England to win, only to be bowled by Martin Snedden.

Most matches until a first win - ODIs

Team	Opposition	Mat	From	To	Diff
Bangladesh	Sri Lanka	15	2 Apr 1986	22 Feb 2006	19y 326d
Kenya	Zimbabwe	14	26 Feb 1996	12 Mar 2003	7y 14d
Zimbabwe	India	13	11 Jun 1983	7 Feb 1997	13y 241d
Bangladesh	India	12	27 Oct 1988	26 Dec 2004	16y 60d
Sri Lanka	West Indies	10	7 Jun 1975	19 Oct 1989	14y 134d
Bangladesh	Zimbabwe	10	11 Oct 1997	10 Mar 2004	6y 151d
New Zealand	England	8	18 Jul 1973	13 Jan 1983	9y 179d
Zimbabwe	Pakistan	8	27 Feb 1992	26 Feb 1995	2y 364d
Zimbabwe	West Indies	8	13 Jun 1983	6 Jul 2000	17y 23d
Pakistan	West Indies	7	11 Jun 1975	5 Dec 1981	6y 177d
Zimbabwe	New Zealand	7	10 Oct 1987	3 Feb 1996	8y 116d
Zimbabwe	South Africa	7	10 Mar 1992	29 May 1999	7y 80d
Bangladesh	South Africa	7	3 Oct 2002	7 Apr 2007	4y 186d
Bangladesh	Pakistan	6	31 Mar 1986	31 May 1999	13y 61d
Bangladesh	Australia	6	30 Apr 1990	18 Jun 2005	15y 49d
Sri Lanka	New Zealand	5	9 Jun 1979	18 Jun 1983	4y 9d

Zimbabwe made a grand entry onto the one-day circuit by beating Australia by 13 runs in the 1983 World Cup. It has been their only victory against Australia to date. Since then they've been beaten by Australia 25 times, with one no-result.

Most matches since the last win - ODIs

Team	Opposition	Mat	From	To	Diff
Zimbabwe	Australia	26	9 Jun 1983	29 May 2004	20y 355d
Zimbabwe	Pakistan	17	22 Nov 1998	21 Mar 2007	8y 119d
Zimbabwe	South Africa	16	2 Feb 2000	26 Aug 2007	7y 205d
Bangladesh	Pakistan	11	31 May 1999	29 Jul 2004	5y 59d
Zimbabwe	India	10	13 Mar 2002	4 Sep 2005	3y 175d
Zimbabwe	West Indies	10	26 Nov 2003	19 Mar 2007	3y 113d
Zimbabwe	Sri Lanka	8	7 Apr 2003	10 Oct 2006	3y 186d
Zimbabwe	England	7	26 Jun 2003	5 Dec 2004	1y 162d
Kenya	Bangladesh	7	1 Mar 2003	15 Aug 2006	3y 167d
England	South Africa	7	30 Jan 2005	17 Apr 2007	2y 77d
Bangladesh	Australia	6	18 Jun 2005	31 Mar 2007	1y 286d
Bangladesh	Sri Lanka	6	22 Feb 2006	25 Jul 2007	1y 153d
Kenya	West Indies	5	29 Feb 1996	4 Mar 2003	7y 3d
Africa XI	Asia XI	5	17 Aug 2005	10 Jun 2007	1y 297d