Factbox on Saturday's World Cup Pool B match between India and Zimbabwe at Eden Park in Auckland.
Middle-order batsman Umar Akmal hit an unbeaten 38 from 28 balls as Pakistan wrapped up the two-match Twenty20 international series against Zimbabwe with a 15-run victory at the Harare Sports Club on Tuesday.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson scored 90 to lay the foundations for a 38-run victory over Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on Friday which gave the Kiwis the three-match one-day international series 2-1.
Cusack took two wickets in three balls in the final over as Ireland knocked Zimbabwe out of the World Cup with a thrilling five-run win in their Pool B match at Bellerive Oval in Hobart on Saturday.
Batting at No. 9, Wahab Riaz struck a quickfire half-century before he returned to claim four wickets with the ball to lift Pakistan to a narrow 20-run victory.
Embattled Pakistan finally opened their account in the World Cup as they laboured to a narrow 20-run win over a spirited Zimbabwe in a Pool B match in Brisbane on Sunday.
Craig Ervine scored a maiden Test century to help Zimbabwe hold up New Zealand's victory charge on day three of the second Test and steer the home side to 305 for six in their first innings by stumps on Monday.
Neil Wagner claimed a five-wicket haul from a fiery spell of fast bowling as New Zealand reduced hosts Zimbabwe to 120 for eight at tea on day one of the first Test at Queen's Sports Club on Thursday.
Shoaib Malik hit his first century in six years to help Pakistan beat Zimbabwe in the first One-dayer by 41 runs in Lahore on Tuesday, taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
India's bench strength will be tested when a second string team takes on Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe bowlers produced an impressive performance at the death to eke out an 11-run win over Scotland, registering their second successive victory in the qualifying round of the ICC World T20, in Zimbabwe on Thursday.
Ross Taylor and BJ Watling shared an unbeaten sixth-wicket stand of 220 as New Zealand went to tea in complete command on 543 for five and a lead of 379 on day three of the first Test against Zimbabwe on Saturday.
The Netherlands qualified for the World Twenty20 main draw following a dramatic six-wicket victory over Ireland in a run-feast featuring a record 30 sixes in Sylhet, Bangladesh, on Friday.
Paul Stirling struck a blistering half-century to guide Ireland to a three-wicket win over Zimbabwe in a qualifying Group B match of the ICC World T20 on Monday.
News of all that transpired on and off the cricket field
Niroshan Dickwella and Asela Gunaratne hit crucial half centuries to guide Sri Lanka to their highest-ever run chase as the hosts defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets on the final day of an intriguing one-off Test on Tuesday.
Hamilton Masakadza scored a run-a-ball century as Zimbabwe stunned Sri Lanka with a comprehensive seven-wicket victory in a World Cup warm-up at Bert Sutcliffe Oval on Wednesday.
Pakistan edged Zimbabwe by two wickets in the second and final Twenty20 International on Sunday to clinch the series 2-0 at a boisterous Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
India again proved too strong for Zimbabwe, winning the second One-Day International by eight wickets in Harare, on Monday. After dismissing the hosts in 34.3 overs for a paltry 126, the tourists chased down the modest target in 26.5 overs and took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, having won the opening ODI by nine wickets on Saturday.
England batsman Joe Root and Sri Lanka spinner Rangana Herath have moved up to second positions in their respective ICC Test player rankings but failed to displace top-ranked batsman Steve Smith and bowler Ravichandran Ashwin.
Left-arm spinner Imad Wasim took four wickets to spin Pakistan to a 13-run victory over Zimbabwe in the first of two Twenty20 Internationals at Harare Sports Club on Sunday.
Zimbabwe also maintained their unbeaten run in Group B and progressed to the next stage with an 89 runs victory over Hong Kong.
Zimbabwe captured nine Pakistan wickets for 249 runs on the opening day of the first Test in Harare on Tuesday after a frustrating ninth-wicket partnership between Saeed Ajmal and Junaid Khan.
It will be a different sort of challenge for Mahendra Singh Dhoni when he captains a new-look Indian cricket team against Zimbabwe in the first ODI of a short series starting in Harare on Saturday.
Elton Chigumbura scored a fluent half-century as Zimbabwe beat the United Arab Emirates by five wickets in a qualifying match to stay in the hunt for a place in the ICC World Twenty20 in Sylhet, Bangladesh, on Friday. Set a modest 116 after opting to bowl, Zimbabwe lost early wickets before overhauling the target in 13.4 overs courtesy a fine effort by Chigumbura, who remained unbeaten on 53.
Zimbabwe kept themselves in contention for a spot in the main draw of the ICC World Twenty20 Championships, beating Netherlands by five wickets in a Group B qualifying match in Sylhet on Wednesday.
Afghanistan roared into the main draw of the World Twenty20 with an emphatic 59-run victory over Zimbabwe in a first round Group B match on Saturday. Mohammad Shahzad (40) gave Afghanistan a flying start before Mohammad Nabi (52) and Samiullah Shenwari (43) added 98 runs off 64 balls to power them to 186-6, their highest total in this format. The associate nation then returned to bowl out Zimbabwe for 127 to register a memorable victory over a full-member nation and join England, South Africa, West Indies and Sri Lanka in Group One of the Super 10 stage of the tournament. "This was a very important match for us. People in Afghanistan are crazy about cricket. They love the game, so (winning it) was very important for us," victorious captain Asghar Stanikzai said. With a place in the main draw at stake, Stanikzai opted to bat and was vindicated as Shahzad set alight Nagpur's VCA Stadium with his swashbuckling batting. The portly 28-year-old hit Tendai Chatara for four successive boundaries after a quiet opening over, forcing the pacer off attack. Donald Tiripano was pressed into service but there was no respite from Shahzad who hit him for three successive fours. Shahzad greeted left-arm spinner Sean Williams by hitting his first delivery for a six but fell in the same over after a 23-ball blitz attempting a reverse sweep.
Yasir Shah wrecked Zimbabwe's batting lineup with six for 26 as Pakistan cruised to a 131-run win in the opening One-dayer at the Harare Sports Club on Thursday.
Dane Piedt produced the best performance by a debutant South African spinner as the Proteas thumped Zimbabwe by nine wickets to retain their number one status following the one-off conTest at the Harare Sports Club on Tuesday.
South Africa survived a batting collapse precipitated by a hat-trick from spinner Prosper Utseya to beat Zimbabwe by 61 runs in the third match of the triangular series on Friday.
Chris Gayle rediscovered his mojo in spectacular fashion on Tuesday with the first ever World Cup double century to drive West Indies to a 73-run victory over Zimbabwe in their Pool B clash at Manuka Oval.
It was India's players all the way, with Jasprit Bumrah emerging the most valuable, ahead of K L Rahul. Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player Index after the just-concluded three-ODI series between India and Zimbabwe.
Suresh Raina (110) and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (85) combined in an unbeaten fifth wicket partnership of 196 at Eden Park to give their team a sixth successive victory in the tournament.
The series loss to South Africa notwithstanding, India held on to their second spot in the team list, while star batsman Virat Kohli rose up a rung to second in the batsmen's table of the latest ICC ODI cricket rankings.
Shikhar Dhawan capitalised on three reprieves to slam his third ODI century as India crushed Zimbabwe by 58 runs in the second One-dayer in Harare on Friday.
India maintained their stranglehold over Zimbabwe, winning the fourth ODI in the five-match series by nine wickets, in Bulawayo, on Thursday. Opting to field after winning the toss, India dismissed the hosts for a paltry 144, and then chased down the target with 115 balls to spare at the Queens Sports Club.
A promising start to their World Cup campaign will raise hopes of a quarter-final berth.
A resounding opening win setting the tone perfectly for them, the new-look Indian team will look to continue in the same vein and take another step towards a potential whitewash of Zimbabwe when the two sides clash in the second ODI in Harare on Monday.
Pakistan look to get their so far lacklustre World Cup campaign going with a win over Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe recorded their first win over Pakistan for 15 years as they cruised to a seven-wicket victory in the opening one-day international at Harare Sports Club on Tuesday.
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