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Christchurch, March 12 (Ians) Veteran all-rounder Angelo Mathews’ 14th Test century has opened the door for Sri Lanka to claim a spot in the World Test Championship final, helping the visitors set a target of 285 for New Zealand at the end of day fours play at Hagley Oval.

Matthews slammed 115 and was involved in stands of 105 and 60 with Dinesh Chandimal (42) and Dhananjaya de Silva (47 not out) respectively to carry Sri Lanka to a second-innings total of 302.

At stumps, New Zealand reached 28/1 and need 257 runs more on an interesting Day 5 to complete the highest successful chase in Test cricket at Hagley Oval, beating Australia’s 201/3 in February 2016.

Despite a nervous half-hour in the early nineties, Mathews moved to his century with boundaries off back-to-back deliveries, swatting Blair Tickner through mid-wicket before booming a shot through covers off the back foot in a gritty knock which lasted 235 balls.

Sri Lanka began Day 4 by building a target-setting platform,...

Christchurch, March 12 (Ians) New Zealand’s senior left-arm fast-bowler Neil Wagner has been ruled out of the second Test against Sri Lanka, starting from Friday at the Basin Reserve, after a scan on Sunday during the ongoing first Test at Hagley Oval revealed he has a bulging disc in his back and a torn right hamstring.

Wagner felt pain in his right leg while bowling on day three of the first Test against Sri Lanka at Hagley Oval and was taken for scans, which showed the injuries, with an estimated recovery time of six weeks.

New Zealand Cricket (Nzc) further said in its official update that if required, Wagner will be available to bat for the hosts’ in the ongoing Test match in Christchurch.

Head coach Gary Stead said the whole team were feeling for Wagner.

“We all know how much playing Test cricket for New Zealand means to Neil...

Christchurch (New Zealand), March 11 (Ians) Daryl Mitchell struck his fifth Test century while Matt Henry made a career-best 72 helping New Zealand fight back on Day 3 of the first Test against Sri Lanka at Hagley Oval here on Saturday.

Mitchell scored a superb 102 off 193 deliveries hitting six fours and two sixes and with Henry blazing to a quick-fire half-century as New Zealand clawed their way back into the match.

The Test was delicately poised as Blair Tickner then claimed 3-28 in a superb burst of pace bowling as Sri Lanka slumped to 83/3 in 38 overs in their second innings at the close of play on the third day. They had a slight lead of 65 runs with seven-second innings wickets in hand. Angelo Mathews was batting on 20 along with Prabath Jayasuriya (2 not out) at stumps.

But New Zealand’s spirits were dampened by a leg injury to pacer Neil Wagner late on day three.

Southampton, June 15 (Ians) Opener Devon Conway, who scored a double century on debut this month, left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel as well as injured duo Kane Williamson and Bj Watling, have been included in 15-member New Zealand squad for the World Test Championship final against India to be played at Hampshire Bowl from Friday.

Doug Bracewell, Jacob Duffy, Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra and Mitchell Santner have been left out after the squad that played the two-Test series against England was whittled down.

"There has had to be some tough calls with Mitchell [Santner] and Daryl [Mitchell] victims of the fierce competition we currently have for places in the Test side," said New Zealand head coach Gary Stead.

"We have gone with Ajaz as our specialist spinner after an impressive outing at Edgbaston [where he took four wickets] and we believe he could be a factor at the Ageas Bowl (Hampshire Bowl)."

Skipper Williamson had missed the second Test...

London, June 7 (Ians) All the efforts of the New Zealand bowlers to dismiss the England batsmen came to nought as the home team preferred to play out time while chasing 273 runs in 75 overs for a win, and it resulted in the first Test ending in a draw here on Sunday.

England were 170 for three wickets in their second innings in 70 overs on the fifth and final day when the match ended at Lord's. Earlier, they were 56 for two wickets at tea, and they probably decided to hang out there and kill time.

Dominic Sibley with 60, scored in over five hours, and Ollie Pope remained unbeaten at stumps. Captain Joe Root made 40 in 109 minutes.

For New Zealand, Neil Wagner bagged two wickets.

Devon Conway, who scored a superb double century on his Test debut, was declared the man of the Match.

Earlier, chasing the target, England were reduced to 56 for two...

London, June 6 (Ians) Chasing a target of 273 runs in 75 overs, England were 56 for two wickets in 32 overs at the tea interval on the fifth and final day of the first Test against New Zealand at Lord's here on Sunday. England now need 217 runs in the final session of play.

At the tea break, captain Joe Root was batting without a run and Dominic Sibley was on 19.

Earlier in the day New Zealand declared their second innings at 169 for six wickets, and asked England to score an average of 3.64 runs per over for victory. Tom Latham was the top scorer of New Zealand's second innings with 36 while Ross Taylor scored 33. For England, Ollie Robinson was the top wicket taker with three for 26.

In England's second innings, New Zealand's Neil Wagner dismissed first-innings' centurion Rory Burns for 25 in the 24th over and Tim Southee accounted for Zak Crawley in the 31st over.

New Delhi, June 6 (Ians) Australian Pat Cummins has found unanimous approval as the best speedster in world cricket after former cricketers Ian Chappell, Sanjay Manjrekar and Aakash Chopra picked him as their first choice among the top five present-day Test bowlers. Former Australia skipper Chappell has picked three Indians among his five.

Chappell's list of five includes Cummins, Kagiso Rabada, R. Ashwin, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma.

"Pat Cummins, for everything he contributes, I have to go with him [as first pick]. An example that I have to cite is the last Test [against India in January] at the Gabba when Australia produced that ridiculous tactic of bowling short for an hour. Starc was shocked to pieces. He had nothing to come back with. But somehow or the other Cummins still in that last hour, gave everything he had," said Chappell.

"I had the good fortune to captain Dennis Lillee. Dennis was the last guy in our...

London, June 5 (Ians) No play was possible due to rain on the third day of the first England-New Zealand Test here on Friday. Now, the fourth and fifth day's play will have extended play and 98 overs will have to be bowled on each day, weather permitting.

When stumps were drawn on the second day on Thursday, England were 111 for two wickets in their first innings, having recovered from 18 for two wickets. They still trail by 267 runs. Opener Rory Burns (59) and captain Joe Root (42) were at the crease.

Earlier, New Zealand were all out for 378 in their first innings, with debutant opener Devon Conway batting for almost nine-and-half hours for his superb 200.

Brief scores: New Zealand: 378 all out England: 111/2 wkts

--Ians

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London, June 2 (Ians) New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat in first Test against England here at Lord's on Wednesday.

The Kiwis have won only one out of the 17 Tests they have played at Lord's in their 90-year cricket history in England. Their lone victory came in 1999 under Stephen Fleming's captaincy. They have lost eight and drawn eight matches.

England are missing some of their top stars. Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer (both due to injuries), Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran and Jonny Bairstow (all rested after Indian Premier League) are not playing the first Test giving Kiwis an opportunity to win only their second Test at the home of cricket.

Teams:

England: Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Zak Crawley, Joe Root (captain), Daniel Lawrence, Ollie Pope, James Bracey (wicketkeeper), Ollie Robinson, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, James Anderson

New Zealand: Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson (captain), Ross Taylor,...

London, June 1 (Ians) New Zealand pace bowler Trent Boult will arrive on Friday but will be available only for World Test Championship final against India from June 18. Left-armer Boult, who is already skipping the first Test against England that begins at Lord's on Wednesday, will also miss second Test against Joe Roots team at Edgbaston from June 10.

"I don't think you will see Trent [Boult] in the two Test matches here," said Nz coach Gary Stead while speaking to media ahead of the first Test.

"He arrives on Friday and our planning and what we are looking at doing with Trent is having him ready for the World Test Championship final," added Stead.

Boult, who represented Mumbai Indians in the suspended Indian Premier League flew straight to New Zealand from India to spend time with family and did not go to England like Kane Williamson, Kyle Jamieson and Mitchell Santner did.

London, May 31 (Ians) New Zealand will look to improve their poor Test record at Lord's when they take on depleted England, which is missing star players, in first of two Tests from Tuesday.

Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer (both due to injuries), Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran and Jonny Bairstow (all rested after Indian Premier League) won't feature in the first Test giving Kiwis an opportunity to win only their second Test at the home of cricket.

New Zealand have won only one out of the 17 Tests they have played at Lord's in their 90-year cricket history in England. Their lone victory came in 1999 under Stephen Fleming's captaincy. They have lost eight and drawn eight matches.

New Zealand's most experienced players like Tim Southee and Ross Taylor are on their fourth trip to England but are yet to win a Test match at Lord's.

The Kiwis have also...

London, May 31 (Ians) New Zealand will look to improve their poor Test record at Lord's when they take on depleted England in first of two Tests from Wednesday.

Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer (both due to injuries), Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran and Jonny Bairstow (all rested after Indian Premier League) won't feature in the first Test giving Kiwis an opportunity to win only their second Test at the home of cricket.

New Zealand have won only one out of the 17 Tests they have played at Lord's in their 90-year cricket history in England. Their lone victory came in 1999 under Stephen Fleming's captaincy. They have lost eight and drawn eight matches.

New Zealand's most experienced players like Tim Southee and Ross Taylor are on their fourth trip to England but are yet to win a Test match at Lord's.

The Kiwis have also not won any Test in...

Auckland, May 17 (Ians) New Zealand players who will be involved in their upcoming tour of England arrived in London on Monday, New Zealand Cricket (Nzc) said.

While most of the players reached Heathrow airport, Tim Southee, Bj Watling, Ross Taylor and Neil Wagner will depart Auckland later on Monday to join the squad in Southampton.

Captain Kane Williamson and other players and staff who were in India for the suspended Indian Premier League are expected to arrive in England later on Monday after flying out of the Maldives, Nzc said.

"While in England they will operate in a 'controlled team environment' to limit outside contact and risk of transmission. All tour members will complete a daily self-reported health screening as well as undergoing regular covid testing," said the Nzc.

--Ians

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Auckland, May 15 (Ians) The New Zealand men's cricket team departed for England on Saturday night to play a two-Test series, followed by the Icc World Test Championship (Wtc) final against the Virat Kohli-captained India.

While the Black Caps will play the first Test against the hosts from June 2 in London, the second Test will commence in Birmingham on June 10.

The Kiwis will then take on India in Wtc final at Southampton from June 18.

New Zealand Cricket (Nzc) posted pictures of the departing team on twitter and instagram.

"London on Getting set. After two Lincoln camps, our New Zealand-based players heading to England! The squad will travel to Southampton on arrival in England to prepare for the first Test against @englandcricket starting at the @homeofcricket (Lord's) on the 2nd of June," Nzc said on instagram.

The Blackcaps had made Lincoln, on the South Island, as its final training base before the journey.

New Delhi, Feb 17 (Ians) India wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant reached his career best 11th position in the Icc Test rankings for batsmen. Opener Rohit Sharma moved to 14th in the rankings for batsmen while spinner Ravichandran Ashwin jumped 14 places in the rankings to 81st after he scored his fifth Test century in the recently concluded second Test between India and England in Chennai.

Ashwin remains seventh in the bowlers' rankings but he has gained 33 rating points to reach within three points of sixth-ranked Stuart Broad and to within 21 of second-ranked Neil Wagner.

Pant has been in stellar form with the bat since coming back into the Test team during the second Test in Australia late December. He scored an unbeaten 58 in the first innings of the second Test which India won by 317 runs.

Rohit scored 161 in the first innings of the second Test, scoring nearly half of the 329 runs that India scored.

Sydney, Nov 22 (Ians) Australia's star batsman Steve Smith will not have too much fending off short deliveries that Indian fast bowlers can be expected to serve up during the upcoming tour Down Under, according to the hosts' assistant coach Andrew McDonald.

"I don't think it's a weakness, is it? They're taking a shot at that area to get him out early and then what you'll see after that initial potential plan they will go to a more standard try and negate the runs [plan]," McDonald said in a virtual interaction with the media.

"I think they've used it before and he's done well on it before. I'm suggesting that plan hasn't necessarily worked to its full effect."

Smith was felled by a short ball from England's Jofra Archer during the 2019 Ashes, which marked his return to Test cricket after serving a one-year ban. While he missed one Test because of the injury,...

Auckland, Nov 16 (Ians) Wellington Firebirds batsman Devon Conway has been included in his first New Zealand squad for the season-opening KFC T20I series against world champion West Indies, New Zealand Cricket (Nzc) announced on Monday.

Conway and Kyle Jamieson are the new faces in the T20 team, which will be captained by Tim Southee, with Kane Williamson and Trent Boult focussing on the Test series.

Southee, Jamieson and Ross Taylor are only available for the first two T20Is, at Eden Park on November 27 and at Bay Oval on November 27, before heading to Hamilton to join an unchanged 13-man Test squad on November 30.

With the third and final T20I at Bay Oval also on November 30, Mark Chapman, Doug Bracewell and Scott Kuggeleijn will join the T20 squad as cover for the three Test players.

"I think we're all very aware and appreciative of how much work has gone...