A friendship of 69 yrs: NZ High Commissioner recalls the first match between Team India & Kiwis in 1950

Hours before India and New Zealand stepped on the field for the 2019 World Cup semi-final, New Zealand High Commissioner Joanna Kempkers seemed to feel nostalgic. From the first Test match between the men in blue and the Kiwis to the semi-final of 2019, here's what occupied Kempkers' mind.
Cricket as a tool in modern-day diplomacy
“Sports has the ability to reinforce people-to-people links and draw countries closer together. Our sportspersons are ambassadors in their own right. They represent the culture and values of the country they come from, so sports can be an effective diplomatic tool in international relations. New Zealand and India played their first Test match in the mid-1950s. Since then, we have been regular sporting rivals on the cricket pitch, and that has only strengthened the longstanding friendship between the two countries.”

Favourite World Cup memory
“We were the proud hosts of the previous edition of the World Cup along with Australia in 2015. Everyone will agree that our collective best moment was when New Zealand made it to the finals, facing Australia in front of a crowd of 90,000 cricket fans. It was the closest we came to the World Cup, and a feat we’re hoping to repeat. Being the hosts and the runners-up was a fantastic feeling.”

Favourite cricket memorabilia
“The Black Caps dropped in at the New Zealand High Commission in 2016. We naturally made the most of their visit by getting them to autograph cricket balls. I am yet to get my hands on any World Cup memorabilia.”

(This interview was conducted before the India vs New Zealand semi fi nal match on Tuesday.)