Australia were two wickets from victory at the end of day four of the first day-night test against Pakistan on Sunday, but the tourists were buoyed by a feisty fourth innings chase and a brilliant unbeaten century from Asad Shafiq.
The leaden-footed Australians found themselves bamboozled by Pakistan's wily spinners and their trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand can expect similar treatment from Misbah-ul-Haq and his men in a three-Test series starting in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Pakistan spinners Zulfiqar Babar and Yasir Shah took nine wickets in the second innings as the hosts beat Australia by 221 runs in the first Test on Sunday to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
Kane Williamson, leading New Zealand in a Test for the first time at home, scored his 24th half century to guide the hosts to an eight-wicket victory in the first test against Pakistan in Christchurch on Sunday. Chasing a target of 105 for the win, Williamson was dismissed on 61 with the hosts just a run shy of victory. Jeet Raval (36 not out) hit a four to push New Zealand over the line on 108 for two shortly after lunch on the fourth day. New Zealand had bowled the visitors out in their second innings for 171 about an hour into the day's play at Hagley Oval.
James Anderson claimed four wickets as England made an excellent start to the third and final Test in Sharjah by bowling out Pakistan for 234 on Sunday.
Pakistan, who briefly topped the Test rankings last year, have now lost six straight Tests, one to West Indies in Sharjah, two in New Zealand and three in Australia.
The hits and misses of the week.
Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur has insisted that veteran cricketers Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan have earned the right to decide when they want to draw curtains on their international careers. Both the batsmen, who underwent a stern examination by Josh Hazlewood and Jackson Bird, were dismissed in the space of five overs on a rain-shortened opening day of the Boxing Day Test against Australia, leaving visitors on 142-4 when play was finally called off before Tea.
Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ijaz Butt has set off another controversy by claiming that the national team's head coach Waqar Younis had resigned before the 2015 World Cup after being insulted by Ahmed Shehzad.
England made a bright start to their second Test against Pakistan at Headingley on Friday, after being hammered at Lord's last week, with Stuart Broad taking two early wickets and the visitors reduced to 68-4 at lunchtime.
Zimbabwe completed only their 11th Test victory with a dramatic 24-run win over Pakistan at Harare Sports club on Saturday to draw the series 1-1.
Mohammad Hafeez continued his rich vein of form and closed in on his maiden double hundred in Tests as Pakistan reached 281 for three against New Zealand at the close on the first day of the third and final Test on Wednesday.
Pakistan cricketers see big jump in personal rankings too, Rohit, Bumrah also climb atop the leaderboard
Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews led by example, hitting an unbeaten 77 to help his team overcome a top order wobble and take a 291-run lead against Pakistan at the end of the third day's play in the third and final Test at Pallekele on Sunday.
The 34-year-old replaced Iftikhar Ahmed, who managed only 44 runs in four innings in the recent tour of Australia where Pakistan lost both Tests.
Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja's maiden 10-wicket match haul against England in Chennai has propelled him to second position behind teammate and India's star off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in the ICC Test bowler rankings released on Wednesday.
Photos from Day 3 of the first Test played at The Gabba on Saturday
South Africa will have to dig deep if they are to avoid defeat in the first Test after being reduced to 72 for four wickets in their second innings, still trailing Pakistan by 121 runs, in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
Both India and Pakistan have announced that stretches would be developed in their respective areas.
The confiscation of properties of JuD and FIF comes after Pakistan formally placed them in the list of banned organisations on Tuesday.
A look at the top tweets from your favourite Bollywood celebrities.
India are favourites to retain the Champions Trophy on Sunday but they would probably have preferred to face different opponents than arch-rivals Pakistan in what is sure to be a highly-charged final.
Saeed's release has virtually 'boosted up the morale' of the six suspects facing the trial in Pakistan for the last eight years, believe Saeed's supporters.
Lashkar-e-Tayiba operations commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind, was on Tuesday summoned by a Pakistani court to appear before it in the next hearing on the government's appeal against his bail in the 26/11 case.
Captain Steve Smith raised a composed century to push Australia to a 22-run first innings lead in the second Test against Pakistan but the home side's hopes of pushing their advantage were washed away by rain on day four on Thursday.
Opener Tom Latham struck his second consecutive hundred to keep New Zealand on course for a big first-innings total on the opening day of the second Test against Pakistan on Monday. Opting to bat first after winning the toss at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, the visitors, trailing 1-0 in the three-Test series, reached 243 for three wickets at the close.
Supremely confident on home turf, defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders will look to continue their forward march when they face an inconsistent Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League T20 cricket tournament at Eden Gardens, in Kolkata on Thursday.
'Will it lead to a full-scale war? I doubt it.' 'But I do think there will be some kind of limited conflict.'
England claimed a 72-run first-innings lead to push for a series-levelling victory but Hafeez and Azhar Ali shared an opening partnership of 101 to bring the hosts back into the match.
Virender Sehwag has announced his international retirement. The batsman made the announcement in Dubai on Monday, ahead of joining the Masters Champions League.
England amassed a world record One-Day International total of 444 for three as they crushed Pakistan by 169 runs at Trent Bridge on Tuesday to take an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. Jos Buttler struck the last ball of the innings for four to take Eoin Morgan's men past Sri Lanka's 443 for nine against Netherlands in July 2006.
The perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attack, who shot dead 166 people, had confessed to details that should have been enough to hang him, but Pakistan enjoyed his anti-India rhetoric and let him spread his tentacles. A revealing excerpt from Khaled Ahmed's Pakistan's Terror Conundrum.
Babar Azam hit his maiden century while spinner Mohammad Nawaz grabbed four wickets as Pakistan thrashed the West Indies by 111 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method in the first day-night international on Friday. Azam's rapid-fire 139-ball 120 helped Pakistan post a challenging 284-9 in a match reduced to 49 overs a side due to a 70-minute floodlight failure at Sharjah Stadium in the UAE. West Indies -- set 287 to win -- never got close and folded at 175 in 38.4 overs.
Pakistan's experienced batsman Younis Khan dug deep for his 24th Test century and his seventh against Sri Lanka to rescue his struggling side who closed on 261-4 on the opening day of the first Test on Wednesday.
Mominul Haque struck a patient 80 before falling to the final delivery of the day as Bangladesh capitalised on poor Pakistan fielding to reach 236 for four on the opening day of the first Test in Khulna on Tuesday.
A Pakistani anti-terrorism court conducting the Mumbai attacks trial on Thursday issued summons to four witnesses including the seller of a boat that was used by 10 Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists to reach India, even as it postponed the hearing of the case by two weeks.
Before Akshay Kumar takes centrestage in the courtroom this Friday, here's looking at filmi lawyers before him.
Joe Root went serenely past 150 as England moved on to 427 for five at lunch on the second day of the second Test against Pakistan in Manchester on Saturday.
A round-up of Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Tuesday.
Pakistani authorities have conducted raids in some cities of Punjab province and arrested several suspects in connection with the attack on the Pathankot air base last month, a media report said.
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