Sobers played 12 Tests against NZ: four in NZ in 1956, three in NZ in 1969 and five in the WI in 1972. He scored 404 runs at 23.76 in 18 innings with just 1 century and no fifties: a very poor return for a man who is arguably the second greatest batsman ever. In his final five Tests against NZ, he did average 36.14 so that series was not a complete catastrophe batting-wise, although still well below Sobers' usual standards:
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On the 1956 tour to NZ, Sobers struggled with the unfamiliar conditions there (the greenish wickets which Hadlee did not bowl on for a change) and it has been suggested that his failure on this tour left "psychological scars" which blighted his subsequent performances against NZ:
from
https://archive.acscricket.com/famous_cricketers/42/15/#zoom=z:
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On the 1969 tour to (Australia then) NZ, he was "handicapped by a shoulder injury". He still averaged nearly 50 (49.70) in the Tests against Australia but maybe the batting on the Australian leg aggravated the shoulder injury before his Tests against NZ:
from
https://archive.acscricket.com/famous_cricketers/42/50/#zoom=z:
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In the 1972 Tests against NZ (in the WI), Sobers was 35 going on 36 and on the downslide.
from
https://archive.acscricket.com/famous_cricketers/42/62/#zoom=z and
https://archive.acscricket.com/famous_cricketers/42/63/#zoom=z:
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Sobers' Test batting average passed 60 for the last time after the first Test against NZ in 1972 but declined thereafter:
Cumulative averages from Test 66 onwards:
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From the first Test against NZ in 1972 until he retired about two years later (12 Tests), Sobers averaged 41.18, not diabolical but well below his best:
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The most important thing to take out of all this information is that when the Sobers XI played the Hadlee XI in 2001, the Hadlee XI won:
Get cricket scorecard of SbrXI vs HadXI, Weekend of Legends 2001 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham dated June 30, 2001.
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