India suffers first whitewash in ODIs after 30 years

West Indies handed India a 5-0 defeat at home in March, 1989, while South Africa won 4-0 on home soil in 2006 after the first match was abandoned.

One team's despair is another team's joy. After suffering a 5-0 whitewash in the T20 series, New Zealand responded by handing India a 3-0 whitewash in the ODI series.

New Zealand on Tuesday clinched the three-match One Day International (ODI) series 3-0 to hand India its first whitewash after 30 years. The Black Caps, after winning the first and second ODIs by four wickets and 22 runs, respectively, won the third match by five wickets at the Bay Oval to complete the clean sweep.

The last time India lost all the matches in a bilateral 50-overs series was to West Indies in March 1989. Dilip Vengsarkar-led India conceded the first match at Bridgetown by 50 runs before losing the next two by six wickets each at Port of Spain. Vivian Richards' Windies bagged the fourth ODI  (at St. John's) by eight wickets and then went on to claim the fifth and final encounter by 101 runs at Bridgetown.

In technical terms, a team is whitewashed when it loses all its games. Hence, going by this definition, India's 0-4 loss to South Africa in 2006 can also considered be one, except that the first game was washed out.

Graeme Smith led the Proteas to a 157-run, a 106-run and an 80-run victory to win the series. In the final match in Centurion, the Rahul Dravid-led Indian team suffered a nine-wicket thumping.