Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi is seen being interviewed before the start of their first T20 international cricket match against New Zealand in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

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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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Sreesanth captured six out of the 13 Sri Lankan wickets that fell on the third day’s play at Kanpur to put India on the brink of a big innings victory. Sri Lanka in reply to India’s 642 crashed to 229 all out in their first innings and have already lost four wickets after following on!

The Lankans had a bad first session with Sreesanth picking up three wickets – opener Paranavitana (chasing a wide away going delivery to get caught for 38), Sangakkara (dragging a big cover drive onto the stumps to get bowled for 44) and Samaraweera (dragging his cut onto the stumps). Sri Lanka lost one more wicket in Angelo Mathews before lunch to get reduced to 138 for 5.

In the afternoon session, India had to wait for a long time before getting their next scalp as Mahela Jayawardene and Prasanna Jayawardene got a partnership going. It was again Sreesanth who provided the breakthrough by having Prasanna (39) caught behind playing a loose cut shot. Mahela Jayawardene (47) followed him back to the pavilion after a big shot off debutant spinner Pragyan Ojha failed to clear mid on. Sreesanth soon picked up his fifth wicket when he bowled left handed Rangana Herath with one that swung away from middle to hit the off stump. Sri Lanka went to Tea at 219 for 8.

The visitors got bowled out within no time after Tea and the follow on was enforced by Dhoni. Once again Sreesanth came good for India as he forced Dilshan to nick him behind. In a surprise move, Dhoni brought on Virender Sehwag in the 11th over and the part timer got rid of Paranavitana with an arm ball that had him lbw.

Sri Lanka got into horrible trouble moments later with Mahela Jayawardene getting run out due to a misjudgement of a single by Sangakkara. The Lankan Captain himself exited from the middle after dragging on a cut shot off Harbhajan onto the stumps. Sri Lanka finished the day’s play ar 57 for 4 in their second innings and know very well that nothing can save them from a big defeat tomorrow.

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Pakistan after getting reduced to a disastrous 85 for 5 fought back superbly through Umar Akmal and his older brother Kamran Akmal to end Day 3 at 307 for 8. Umar Akmal went onto score a century on Test Debut! The Akmal Brothers put on a terrific counter punch with a partnership of 176 for the sixth wicket. New Zealand still hold the game in their control as Pakistan have a deficit of 122 runs and there are a couple of days left in this Dunedin match. Pakistan would be looking for some weather intervention to keep New Zealand away from a victory.

New Zealand resumed Day 3 at 404 for 8 and could add a further 25 runs before getting bowled out. Mohammad Asif finished with 4 for 108 in 34 overs. Pakistan in their first innings got off to a bad start when Khurram Manzoor dragged his forcing shot onto his stumps off Chris Martin in the 4th over. By lunch, Pakistan lost their other opener Imran Farhat who challenged an lbw decision through a review but in vain. Martin was again the successful bowler to take this wicket and Pak went to lunch at 50 for 2.

Pakistan had more trouble in store in the afternoon session as they lost three more wickets to put New Zealand in a winning position. Shane Bond bowled at his very best to pick the wickets of Skipper Mohammad Yousuf (17), Fawad Alam (29) and Shoaib Malik (2) in the space of around 4 overs. Yousuf played an uppish drive back to Bond who came up with a forward diving catch. Fawad Alam and Shoaib Malik both fell to rising deliveries.

At 85 for 5, the Kiwis were right on top of Pakistan but the Akmal brothers had different ideas. Umar Akmal initiated the counter attack by slogging Vettori over mid wicket for a six and his older brother Kamran joined the fight in same vein. For the next 40 overs or so, the Kiwi attack was put to sword before Kamran Akmal threw his wicket by giving the charge to Vettori but only to edge his big shot to slip. The wicket keeper batsman scored a superb 82 from 136 balls with 11 fours and a six.

Towards the fag end of the day’s play, Umar Akmal got dismissed getting caught at deep point after a brilliant 129 (from 160 balls with 21 fours and 2 sixes). Vettori rounded off the day with the wicket of Umar Gul.

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India piled up 642 in their first innings of the second Test at Kanpur and has Sri Lanka battling hard at 66 for 1 at Stumps on Day 2. The visitors had lost Tillakaratne Dilshan in the very first ball of their innings when he played a flick shot too early off Zaheer Khan to get caught off a leading edge. Paranavitana (30) and Sangakkara (30) have gone past some nervous moments against pace and spin to see the day through for Lanka who had to bat for 24 overs before stumps.

Overnight batsman Rahul Dravid went onto score 144 (from 226 balls with 15 fours and a six) before getting run out at the non-striker’s end for no fault of his. His overnight partner Sachin Tendulkar was the first to depart on the second day after failing in an attemt to loft Ajantha Mendis over mid off. It was in the same over that Tendulkar had taken the bowler for a straight six over his head. Sachin fell having scored 40 from 91 balls. VVS Laxman and Yuvraj Singh helped themselves to score 60s to put on a century stand for the fifth wicket.

India was charging towards the 700-run mark but were bowled out for less than 650 itself with left arm spinner Rangana Herath producing some late magic. Herath produced a couple of sensational deliveries that came back with the arm instead of turning away from the right hander. Skipper MS Dhoni and Harbhajan were the victims of those deliveries as they got bowled through the bat pad gap. Herath wrapped up the Indian innings with a five-wicket haul.

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Rain and then bad light ensured that just the 36 overs were possible in the second day’s play of the Dunedin Test. New Zealand dominated that period of play to stretch their first innings total from  276 for 6 to 404 for 8.

Skipper Daniel Vettori had a heart breaking moment towards the fag end of the day’s play when he nicked his cut shot to the keeper on a score of 99! Vettori struck 14 fours and got his runs in just 133 runs.

Brendon McCullum, the other overnight batsman went onto score 78 before getting cleaned up by an Umar Gul yorker. McCullum changed the match in New Zealand’s favour with a partnership of 164 with Vettori.

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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 www.cricketmove.com.

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This could be the first time that young sensation Mohammad Aamer will have the wicket taking Mohammad Asif as his new ball partner when the Test Series against New Zealand kicks off tomorrow at Dunedin. Pakistan perhaps is going to have a winning combination with the new ball after quite sometime, may be this is potentially the best pair after Wasim-Waqar.

Pakistan most certainly will be going in with a combination of three pacers and a spinner in Saeed Ajmal. The third pacer to give back up to Aamer and Asif has got to be Umar Gul who is right now the fastest bowler in the Pakistani camp. Abdur Rauf has taken four wickets in the tour match against New Zealand Invitation XI but I suspect his chances of making it to the Dunedin Test are very low. Rauf is a predictable bowler as he has this funny way of showing the seam of the ball clearly to the batsman.

The Kiwis will have the real threat coming from the two As – Aamer and Asif. Both these bowlers are pretty good at bowling accuratley and do get a considerable amout of movement in and out off the seam. Asif is certainly a bowler close to Glen McGrath when it comes to the skills. The thing that flashes my mind when I think of Asif is the way he had gone through VVS Laxman’s gate in one of the Test matches with a magic off cutter.

It’s a pity that Asif had been out of international cricket due to all the wrong (non-cricketing) reasons. Hope he does justice to the wonderful talent that he has got in making the cricket ball talk the way he wants to! Guess what Mohammad Asif’s last Test was way back in October 2007. Fortunately enough he is just 26 years and will still get plenty of opportunities to make a name of himself in being one of the best bowlers in Test Cricket.

Mohammad Aamer has no doubt been the most consistent performer for Pakistan in any format of the game. He is just 17 years of age and has already won the hearts of many fans. I particularly remember a placard in UAE which was asking for Mohammad Aamer to be the Captain of the Pakistani team. The lad seems to be playing each and every game and may be he needs to be rested whenever there is an insignificant match around. Pakistan would do good if they can preserve this youngster and make sure that he lasts more than 10 years at the international level.

The third pacer for me is Umar Gul and he has to improve upon the consistency levels. At times, Umar Gul has this tendency of bugging his captain with plenty of no-balls. It’s a good challenge ahead of Umar Gul to prove that he is a better bowler than Asif and Aamer. Looks like there will be some kind of a healthy competition between the trio.

 I would like to see Saeed Ajmal play ahead of Danish Kaneria in the Test Series. Ajmal has plenty of variations up his sleeve and the confidence levels are high because of his recent successes against various teams. Bowling seems to be the strength of Pakistan like always. The batting department and fielding is what needs to be improved by a long way for Pakistan if they have to win Test Series abroad.

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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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