Pakistan Vs New Zealand 3rd T20: Pakistan won by 47 runs, whitewash New Zealand 3-0 in T20 series

Pakistan won the first match in Abu Dhabi by two runs and the second by six wickets in Dubai.

Pakistan Vs New Zealand 2018: Pakistan defeated New Zealand by 47 runs in the third and final Twenty20 international in Dubai on Sunday to claim another clean-sweep in the game's shortest format.

Pakistan were lifted to 166-3 by Babar Azam who made a 58-ball 79 with seven boundaries and two sixes while Mohammad Hafeez hit a 34-ball 53 with four boundaries and two sixes.

When on 48, Azam became the quickest to score 1,000 Twenty20 runs in just 26 innings beating India's Virat Kohli's record by an innings.

Leg-spinner Shadab Khan took 3-30 as New Zealand were bundled out for 119 in 16.5 overs.

Pakistan won the first match in Abu Dhabi by two runs and the second by six wickets in Dubai.

↓↓↓ Watch 3rd T20 Scorecard & Highlights ↓↓↓

Pakistan Vs New Zealand 3rd T20 Highlights

---

 News Source: BS & Business Standard

Kohli anchors India to 6-wicket win over NZ, lead series 1-0

Virat Kohli held centrestage with a delightful unbeaten 85 after a collective bowling effort as India cruised to an easy six-wicket victory over New Zealand taking a 1-0 lead in the five-match ODI series, here tonight.

After bowling out New Zealand for 190 in 43.5 overs, India reached the target in a mere 33.1 overs in a match that turned out to be thoroughly one-sided.

If debutant all-rounder Hardik Pandya (3/31) stole the limelight in the bowling department, it was another flawless effort from 'Chase Master' Kohli, whose 85-run knock came off 81 balls. He struck nine fours before effortlessly lofting Ish Sodhi for his only six to finish the match in style.

It was rearguard action from New Zealand that saw them reach 190 after being down at 106 for 8.

If not for Tom Latham, who remained unbeaten on 79 and Tim Southee (55), New Zealand would have never imagined to reach near the 200-run mark.

Southee played the role of an aggressor and together with Latham stitched quickfire 71 runs off just 58 balls for the ninth wicket to give New Zealand bowlers something to bowl at.

But India hardly had any problems in overwhelming the target with vice-captain Kohli again showing his supreme command in the 50-over format.

View full Scorecard

New Zealand

190/10 (43.5)

vs

India

194/4 (33.1)

India won by 6 wickets

Read Source

---

Pakistan vs West Indies, 1st Test, Day 4 at Dubai

View full Scorecard

Oct 13-17, 2016- 1st Test at Dubai International Cricket Stadium (day/night)

Pakistan579/3d & 123

West Indies357 & 95/2 (31 ov, target: 346)

Stumps - West Indies require another 251 runs with 8 wickets remaining

---

Ravichandran Ashwin regains number one spot in Test rankings

Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Wednesday reclaimed the number one spot in Test rankings for bowlers following a career-best match haul of 13 for 140 in the third Test against New Zealand in Indore.

Ashwin, who was named man of the series after he finished with 27 wickets in a 3-0 sweep by India, now has 220 wickets, the most by any bowler after 39 Tests.

Ranked third before the final Test in Indore, Ashwin, who also holds the top position in rankings for all-rounders, has leapfrogged pace bowlers James Anderson and Dale Steyn to attain a career-best rating of 900 points.

Ashwin, who finished the 2015 year-end rankings as the number-one bowler and was also at the top briefly in July this year, has joined a select band to have touched a rating of 900 points since 2000, the others being Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn and Shaun Pollock.

In the rankings for Test batsmen, India's middle-order batsman Ajinkya Rahane has attained a career-best sixth rank with scores of 188 and 23 not out

Read Source

Ashwin takes six as India inch closer towards 'Whitewash'

A splendid six-wicket effort from premier strike bowler Ravichandran Ashwin saw India maintain their stranglehold on New Zealand and remain firmly on course for a 3-0 series whitewash at the end of third day's play in the final Test match in Indore.

Riding on Ashwin's brilliant figures of 6/81, India bowled out New Zealand for 299 thereby taking a healthy first-innings lead of 258 runs.

Virat Kohli, however, did not enforce the follow-on and India were 18/0 at stumps increasing their overall lead to 276 runs.

Veteran opener Gautam Gambhir was retired hurt on six after sustaining a shoulder injury going for a second run. At stumps, Cheteshwar Pujara (1) and M Vijay (11) were at the crease for the home team.

Related: India presented with ICC Test Championship mace

The day belonged to Ashwin, who used the bowlers' rough brilliantly by operating from the pavilion end to get his 20th five-wicket haul in his 39th Test.

The off-spinner, who grabbed 10 wickets in the series opener at Kanpur and four in the second match at Kolkata, also ran out two batsmen off his own bowling.

His spin partner Ravindra Jadeja accounted for the other two wickets in the visitors' innings.

With two days left in the game, India, who won the first two Tests by huge margins, looked well-poised to score another victory for a clean sweep of the series.

Read Source

---

MATCH DETAILS

---

Toss - India
Series - India won the 3-match series 3-0

Player of the match - R Ashwin (India)
Player of the series - R Ashwin (India)

Umpires - HDPK Dharmasena (Sri Lanka) and BNJ Oxenford (Australia)
TV umpire - C Shamshuddin
Match referee - DC Boon (Australia)
Reserve umpire - Nitin Menon

Close of play

• Sat, 8 Oct - day 1 - India 1st innings 267/3 (V Kohli 103*, AM Rahane 79*, 90 ov)
• Sun, 9 Oct - day 2 - New Zealand 1st innings 28/0 (MJ Guptill 17*, TWM Latham 6*, 9 ov)
• Mon, 10 Oct - day 3 - India 2nd innings 18/0 (M Vijay 11*, CA Pujara 1*, 6 ov)
• Tue, 11 Oct - day 4 - New Zealand 2nd innings 153 (44.5 ov) - end of match

---

Suresh Raina, Hardik Pandya recalled in ODIs

Star batsman Suresh Raina and all-rounder Hardik Pandya have been recalled to the national squad for the first three matches of the five-match One Day International (ODI) series against New Zealand, starting on October 16.

This was the first assignment for the newly-appointed selection committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) headed by MSK Prasad.

The 15-member squad led by limited overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who last played the ODI and T20 International series in Zimbabwe in June, however, left out regulars like off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja.

The batting department has been bolstered by the return of Test skipper Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma while Manish Pandey is likely to fill in for injured Lokesh Rahul as opener.

Maharashtra stumper Kedar Jadhav and Punjab batsman Mandeep Singh also retained their places in the squad.

FOR  Venue &  Squad

Read Source

India knockout Pakistan as No 1 Test team after beating New Zealand

India pulled off a brilliant all-round performance to trounce New Zealand by 178 runs in the second Test to clinch the series with an unassailable 2-0 lead, which also propelled them to the top of the ICC rankings dethroning arch-rivals Pakistan, here on Monday at Eden Gardens.

Virat Kohli's men wrapped up the series-deciding victory on the Fourth day of the match after setting the Black Caps a mammoth target of 376 runs to chase.

The visitors showed some spark to start with but their chase floundered in the post-tea session and the side was bowled out for 197 in 81.1 overs in what was India's 250th home Test.

The home team had earlier finished its second innings at 263 in 76.5 overs.

Following Rohit Sharma's 82-run knock on Sunday (yesterday), Wriddhiman Saha also picked up his second successive half-century of the match by scoring a 120-ball 58, laced with half a dozen fours.

Faced with an improbable chase, New Zealand were off to a confident start before things went downhill in the final session of the day.

Opener Tom Latham top-scored for them with a 148-ball 74, which included eight hits to the fence 

Read Source

---

Brief Scorecard

IND -  316, 263

NZ - 204, 197-all out (81.1 Ovs)

India won by 178 runs

PLAYER OF THE MATCH
Wriddhiman Saha

View Full Scorecard

---

India wins 500th Test, takes 1-0 lead against New Zealand

India marked their historic 500th Test with a resounding 197-run win over New Zealand in the opening match and took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series at the Green Park Stadium here on Monday.

Chasing an improbable 434 for victory, New Zealand were bundled out for 236 in their second innings despite resolute half-centuries from Luke Ronchi (80) and Mitchell Santner (71) on the fifth day.

India's premier spinner Ravichandran Ashwin once again hogged the limelight as he bagged six wickets to add to his first-innings haul of four wickets. This is the fifth time that he has taken a 10-wicket haul in the longest format of the game.

Ravindra Jadeja was adjudged as the Player of the Match for his five-wicket haul in the first innings and scoring an unbeaten 50 in the second innings. He also remained not out on 42 in India's first innings total of 318.

Resuming the day's play on 93 for four, New Zealand put up a staunch fightback as overnight batsmen Ronchi and Santner stitched a 102-run partnership to give the tourists a glimmer of hope of clinching a draw.

Brief Score:

India  1st innings: 318

New Zealand  1st innings: 262

India  2nd innings: 377-5 declared

New Zealand  2nd innings: 236 all out in 87.3 overs (L Ronchi 80, MJ Santner 71; R Ashwin 6/132, Mohammed Shami 2/18)

The second match of the series will start at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Friday.

---

View Full Scorecard

---

500 test matches… and a heap of mediocrity

India goes into its 500th Test match today against a combative but not frightening New Zealand XI. The national expectation is that Virat Kohli and his lads will win, making it India’s 130th Test victory. A cooperative pitch is expected to play its part: it’s not called “home advantage” for nothing. In Indian cricket at least, ‘atithi devo bhavah‘ – the Upanishadic principle that says the guest is God – is blithely ignored. It’s more like ‘Ashwin devo bhavah’, in homage to India’s sharpest spin bowler.

India’s being at number one in the International Cricket Council’s Test rankings from November 2009 to August 2011 has led the younger generation of fans to be starry-eyed about their team in Tests. The team was briefly number one again in January, February and August of this year; and but for last month’s foul weather in Port of Spain – and the fouler drainage at the ground – it would still be at the top. India currently sits in second place, a point behind Pakistan, and would return to pole position if it beats New Zealand in the forthcoming series.

Recent Test performances should not blind us to the truth that India has historically been a mediocre, and often poor, Test side. It has a better head-to-head record against only four out of the nine other Test-playing countries. Two of those are Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, teams largely undeserving of their Test status. Sri Lanka and New Zealand are the other sides against which India has prevailed more often than it has lost; but of those two, the Kiwis have the worst overall win percentage – 20.68%  – of any major Test team, so they don’t provide a basis for a boast. And Sri Lanka’s total win percentage against all sides is actually better than that of India. So while India is superior head-to-head, the islanders fare better on average, against everyone else, than India does.

The point of this short piece, therefore, is an appeal for modesty. Let us not thump our chests in the modern Indian manner, but remember that for long stretches of its Test history, India has been a soft opponent. Its overall percentage of victories is a mere 25.95%, the second-worst among the major Test nations (comprising England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka). Only New Zealand has a poorer record. Australia has won a dazzling 47.20% (or nearly half) of its Tests and every other team has won a  read full story