Pakistan have taken charge of the second Test against New Zealand after establishing a 229-run lead at stumps on day two in Wellington.
The tourists resumed on 161-6 but managed to reach 264 all out, Kamran Akmal (70) and Umar Gul adding 64 runs for the eighth wicket.
They then dismissed New Zealand for 99, with paceman Mohammad Asif and spinner Danish Kaneria taking seven wickets. Pakistan lost Imran Farhat and Salman Butt as they reached 64-2.
It was a fine day for Pakistan, who had Akmal and Gul to thank for a respectable first-innings total after Mohammad Aamer had departed for 21.
Wicketkeeper Akmal, who claimed his 11th Test half-century, survived two umpire reviews before he was dismissed when New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori made a good catch running back from mid-off off the bowling of Daryl Tuffey.
It did not take long for the hosts to wrap up the innings, Asif (four) and Gul (31) falling 20 minutes before lunch.
New Zealand did not start their reply well, Mohammad Aamer taking the wicket of Martin Guptill for a first-ball duck while Asif dismissed Tim McIntosh for four to leave the home side on 5-2. Ross Taylor and Daniel Flynn combined for 43 before Taylor was bowled by Gul while the paceman struck against in the next over, Peter Fulton going for a two-ball duck.
Flynn and Grant Elliott added 33 runs either side of tea but the partnership ended with the score on 85 when Flynn became his team’s fifth victim – trapped leg before by Asif for 29. Flynn’s wicket sparked a collapse, with New Zealand losing their last five wickets for 14 runs.
Pakistan’s openers took their team’s second innings to 49 before O’Brien claimed the wickets of both. Salman Butt went for 18, caught by Taylor, then Farhat followed for 35 – which included four fours and a six – when Fulton caught him at second slip.
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Umar Akmal’s heroic knock of 75 (from 174 balls with 5 fours and a six) went in vain as New Zealand won the first Test in a thrilling fashion by 32 runs. The younger Akmal making his Test Debut dazzled with 129 in the first innings as well but the Pakistani top order failed to stand up against the Kiwi attack. The visitors were set a perfectly chasable target of 251 on the last day.
New Zealand resumed the final day at 147 for 8 and could add up just 5 more runs despite having Grant Elliott unbeaten at the end of Day four. Umar Gul finished the Kiwi innings taking the wickets of O’Brien and Elliott to leave his team a target of 251.
The hosts straightaway had Pakistan on the backfoot removing the openers cheaply. They got one more wicket in Fawad Alam before the lunch break and Pak was at a shaky 53 for 3 at the break with Yousuf and Umar Akmal at the crease. Chris Martin provided an important breakthrough by ending Skipper Mohammad Yousuf’s stay for 41 and also a 71-run stand. Umar Akmal kept the fight going with Shoaib Malik (32) and the runs kept flowing before the former got done in by a short ball again.
At Tea, Pakistan was at 165 for 5 with the Akmal brothers at the crease and their side hoping for a repeat of their fighting partnership in the first innings. Shane Bond made sure that the Akmals did not run away with the game by taking a return catch offered by Umar to reduce Pak to 195 for 6. That was the moment for New Zealand and they seized it with both ends taking the remaining four wickets for 21 runs. The important wicket of Kamran Akmal (27) was taken by Iain O’Brien.
It was a perfect team effort from the Kiwi bowlers with Bond, O’Brien taking three wickets each while Martin and Vettori taking two each. Shane Bond picked up the Man of the Match.
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India smashed as many as 417 runs in the opening day’s play of the second test at Kanpur. Gautam Gambhir top scored with 167 from 215 balls while his partner Virender Sehwag came up with 131 from 122 balls. The opening pair put on a terrific stand of 233 in just over 40 overs against an attack that had Muralitharan, Herath and Mendis.
It was a good toss to win for Dhoni’s team as the Green Park pitch is expected to crumble and keep low as the match goes ahead. Sehwag was put down by the keeper and first slip in the very first over when he had not even opened his account. After a watchful first hour, Sehwag along with Gambhir got used to the slow pace of the wicket and what followed in the rest of the morning session and the afternoon one was a wonderful display of strokeplay by both the openers.
By the time Sri Lanka could break the opening partnership which was in the 42nd over, India had raced away to 233! Sehwag was the first to go after driving Murali in the air to covers but not before he had set up the match with a dominating 18th test century. His innings contained a couple off sixes which came against Ajantha Mendis. Gautam Gambhir lasted a little longer than Sehwag and was key to another solid partnership in the day for India. The left hander put on 137 with the inform Rahul Dravid before getting brilliantly caught and bowled by Muralitharan. Gambhir’s 167 had 15 fours and most of his runs had come from some superb running. It was his 8th test hundred and the second consecutive one against Sri Lanka.
At close of play, Rahul Dravid (85* from 153 balls with 8 fours) consolidated India’s position with an unbeaten stand of 47 with Sachin Tendulkar (20* from 53 balls). The hosts had made two changes going into this match with Sreesanth and Pragyan Ojha replacing Ishant Sharma and birthday boy Amit Mishra. Sri Lanka brought in Ajantha Mendis in the place of the injured Dammika Prasad.
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New Zealand finished Day 1 of the first Test at the University Oval in Dunedin at 276 for 6. The hosts were put under pressure at the start of play and again towards the end by some superb bowling from Aamer and Asif. The Kiwis are on the road to recovery yet again through an unbroken partnership of 65 between Brendon McCullum (25) and Skipper Daniel Vettori (40 from 44 balls).
Mohammad Yousuf had won the toss and put New Zealand to bat first on a pitch that was slow and low in nature. Left arm quick Mohammad Aamer gave a dream start by yorking Tim McIntosh in the very first ball of the match. Mohammad Asif caused damge from his end by forcing Daniel Flynn to get an inside edge to the keeper. New Zealand got off to a disastrous start at 27 for 2 in the 6th over.
Pakistan failed to make most of the inroads as opener Martin Guptill got a partnership going with Ross Taylor. The Kiwis went to lunch without any further damage at 78 for 2 in 28 overs. The partnership blossomed after lunch with both Guptill and Taylor knocking off their respective half centuries.
In the 41st over, Pakistan took a chance with the referral system asking for an lbw decision when Asif had hit the pad of Taylor but the TV Umpire had noticed tha the ball had struck outside the line of the off stump. Pakistan eventually could break the 3rd wicket stand when Martin Guptill (60 from 142 balls with 10 fours and a six) miscued a pull shot off Aamer. Guptill put on 117 runs for the 3rd wicket along with Taylor. The Kiwis went to Tea at 171 for 3 with Ross Taylor closing in to his 5th test hundred.
The final session seemed to go in Pakistan’s favour as off spinner Saeed Ajmal lured Taylor into an expansive drive to have him edge a straighter one in the 63rd over. Ross Taylor was unlucky to miss out on a hundred. He scored his 94 in 174 balls with the help of 13 fours and a six. Asif returned back to clean up Fulton (29) with an indipper and New Zealand lost their 5th wicket with that. The same bowler had Grant Elliott nicking behind to have the homeside wobbling at 211 for 6.
Pakistan in a bid to wrap up the NZ first innings took the second new ball in the 81st over. In the final over of the day’s play they came very close to getting their 7th wicket when Brendon McCullum got hit on the pad by Asif and Umpire Taufel gave that out lbw. But McCullum took advantage of the review system and got his lbw decision reversed as the ball had struck him outside the line of off stump while attempting a shot. The Kiwis were revived in the end through a nice fighting partnership between McCullum and Vettori.
As predicted, Aamer and Asif were the main bowling stars for Pakistan taking a combined five wickets while Umar Gul dissapointed. Saeed Ajmal did a good hold up job by conceding just 49 runs in his 26 overs.
Live Scores powered with Ball by Ball Simulation of this First Test Match between New Zealand and Pakistan at Dunedin can be followed at .
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New Zealand have picked a 13-man squad to face Pakistan in the first Test at Dunedin which begins on the 24th of this month. The New Zealand team is bolstered with the re-entry of Shane Bond who gets to play Test Cricket after a gap of two years!
The hosts are unlucky to miss one of their key players in Jesse Ryder who is still recovering from an abductor strain which he picked up during his stint in the IPL. Ryder’s place has gone to Peter Fulton who has a mediocre average of under 25.00 and just a fifty in the 8 Tests so far in his career. It could be a toss up between Fulton and Tim McIntosh in the end. McIntosh is fresh from a century against Pakistanis at Queensland which could give him the nod ahead of Fulton.
Apart from Bond, medium pacer Daryl Tuffey makes a comeback in the Test team after similar adventures in the rebel Indian Cricket League. Most likely Tuffey could sit out with New Zealand already having Chris Martin and Iain O’Brien in the ranks to partner with Bond.
New Zealand Squad for first Test at Dunedin : Daniel Vettori (Captain), Tim McIntosh, Daniel Flynn, Ross Taylor, Peter Fulton, Martin Guptill, Grant Elliott, Brendon McCullum (wk), Iain O’Brien, Shane Bond, Jeetan Patel, Daryl Tuffey, Chris Martin
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was first posted on November 22, 2009 at 12:19 pm.
JOHANNESBURG: Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to field first in their Champions Trophy Group B match against New Zealand at the Wanderers on Sunday.
Sri Lanka made the surprise change of replacing veteran off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan with seamer Thilan Thushara, while New Zealand have brought in fast bowler James Franklin for batsman Gareth Hopkins.
Defeat for New Zealand would rule them out of semi-final contention completely while a loss for Sri Lanka would leave them reling on other results going their way to advance.
New Zealand – Brendon McCullum, Jesse Ryder, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, Neil Broom, James Franklin, Daniel Vettori, Kyle Mills, Daryl Tuffey, Shane Bond. Reuters
Pakistan have taken charge of the second Test against New Zealand after establishing a 229-run lead at stumps on day two in Wellington.
Umar Akmal’s heroic knock of 75 (from 174 balls with 5 fours and a six) went in vain as New Zealand won the first Test in a thrilling fashion by 32 runs. The younger Akmal making his Test Debut dazzled with 129 in the first innings as well but the Pakistani top order failed to stand up against the Kiwi attack. The visitors were set a perfectly chasable target of 251 on the last day.
India smashed as many as 417 runs in the opening day’s play of the second test at Kanpur. Gautam Gambhir top scored with 167 from 215 balls while his partner Virender Sehwag came up with 131 from 122 balls. The opening pair put on a terrific stand of 233 in just over 40 overs against an attack that had Muralitharan, Herath and Mendis.
New Zealand finished Day 1 of the first Test at the University Oval in Dunedin at 276 for 6. The hosts were put under pressure at the start of play and again towards the end by some superb bowling from Aamer and Asif. The Kiwis are on the road to recovery yet again through an unbroken partnership of 65 between Brendon McCullum (25) and Skipper Daniel Vettori (40 from 44 balls).
New Zealand have picked a 13-man squad to face Pakistan in the first Test at Dunedin which begins on the 24th of this month. The New Zealand team is bolstered with the re-entry of Shane Bond who gets to play Test Cricket after a gap of two years!
JOHANNESBURG: Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to field first in their Champions Trophy Group B match against New Zealand at the Wanderers on Sunday.
