The International Cricket Council approved rule changes that allow players to be replaced if they are feeling unwell or display COVID-19 symptoms and then return to the game if tests are negative.
Resuming on their overnight total of 207-4, Pakistan ground down the Kiwi attack, with Sohail scoring 147 and Azam 127 not out before they declared their first innings on 418-5.
Hasan Ali and Yasir Shah claimed five wickets each against New Zealand to put Pakistan on the brink of victory on day three of the first Test in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Captain Brendon McCullum is unlikely to pull on the wicketkeeping gloves again for New Zealand, coach Mike Hesson said on Saturday. The 32-year-old is battling a long-term back injury and has already given up the gruelling role in test matches, with BJ Watling taking the gloves in the longest form of the game.
Opener Tamim Iqbal survived two dropped catches to hit an entertaining 95 as Bangladesh reached 228 for five wickets before rain stopped play after tea on the opening day of the second and final Test against New Zealand.
Kane Williamson was looming as the difference between a comfortable Australian win in the second Test against New Zealand and a match situation that could tip the scales either way, according to both sides.
New Zealand pacer Tim Southee said their World Test Championship triumph will take at least a couple of weeks to sink in.
Sri Lanka's Akila Dananjaya spun a web around New Zealand's batsmen, picking up all five wickets on a rain-shortened opening day of the first Test in Galle on Wednesday. Experienced batsman Ross Taylor held firm with an unbeaten 86 against the guile of Dananjaya to take the touring side to 203 for five when rain forced early stumps.
Images from Day 3 of the first Test between India and New Zealand in Kanpur, on Saturday
England were in a strong position to win the second Test against New Zealand and level their two-match series as they extended their lead to 231 runs when bad light stopped play three overs early on the third day at Hagley Oval on Sunday.
Australia can take the top Test ranking from India with a series victory
Mominul Haque's fine knock of 181 took Bangladesh close to New Zealand's first-innings total of 469 on the third day of the first Test in Chittagong on Friday.
New Zealand pace bowler Kyle Jamieson enjoyed a dream start to his Test career on the opening day of the first match against India as he captured three wickets and also took a catch in the deep as the tourists limped to 122-5 after rain washed out the entire post-tea session. Ajinkya Rahane was on 38 at stumps at the Basin Reserve on Friday, while the recalled Rishabh Pant was 10 not out, with the 2.03m tall Jamieson tormenting batsmen with his ability to get the ball to rear off a length.
Trent Boult provided the impetus needed for New Zealand with a five-wicket haul as the hosts completed an innings and 52-run victory over Bangladesh on the fourth day of the first Test in Hamilton on Sunday.
Ahmed Shehzad struck his third Test century as Pakistan completely dominated the opening day of the first Test against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi to reach 269 for one and stay on course for a mammoth first-innings total on Sunday.
Rain disrupted almost all of the second day of the first Test between New Zealand and England on Friday, with the hosts managing to extend their lead to 171 runs before they were forced from the field for good ahead of the final session.
Southee had Kamrul Islam trapped in front for two in the 85th over, shortly after the game had been delayed for about 10 minutes when Rubel Hossain received medical treatment after being hit on the elbow by Trent Boult.
New Zealand's pace attack of Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner, however, made life difficult for the visitors
Shakib Al Hasan stroked the highest individual score for Bangladesh and combined with Mushfiqur Rahim in a record partnership on the second day of the first Test against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve on Friday.
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.
Both Australia and New Zealand played down any significance of the umpires warning the visitors for throwing the ball to wicketkeeper Peter Nevill on the bounce in order to aid its deterioration during the third day of the second Test on Monday.
Uncapped opening batsman Jeet Raval has been named in New Zealand's Test squad for their tour of southern Africa in August, New Zealand Cricket said on Friday.
New Zealand pace spearhead Trent Boult has recovered from a broken hand to be included in the 13-player squad to face India in the two-Test series, as selectors swung the axe following the dismal tour of Australia. Left-armer Boult broke his right hand in the Boxing Day Test against Australia in December but is fit for the first Test against India starting at the Basin Reserve in Wellington on Friday.
Captain Joe Root was dismissed off the last ball of the fourth day moments after he had been struck on the hand by a Trent Boult bouncer to put New Zealand firmly in the driving seat to win the rain-affected first Test at Eden Park.
Pakistan's seam attack dragged their side back into the first Test against New Zealand on Saturday by capturing seven wickets before lunch, bowling the hosts out for 200 on the third day. Sohail Khan, Rahat Ali and Mohammad Amir shared the wickets as the hosts were bundled out with a lead of 67 runs. New Zealand had bowled Pakistan out for 133 before tea on Friday at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
The New Zealand captain finished on 200 not out as his side posted a record score of 715 for six declared in their first innings - a lead of 481 runs.
Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh drove Australia to within 74 runs of a series-winning victory at the dinner-break in the third and final Test in Adelaide on Sunday after New Zealand's pacemen captured three early wickets.
The first half an hour saw only 5 runs being scored and that showed the determination in both Taylor and Williamson's approach. While Jasprit Bumrah could have bowled slightly better in the conditions, Shami and Ishant kept trying to add to the tension as they maintained a disciplined approach. It was about who breaks first.
Chasing a record 468 for victory, New Zealand were teetering at 31 for two at the break with Tom Latham 10 not out and Ross Taylor unbeaten on five. Images from Day 4 of the first Test between Australia and New Zealand in Perth on Sunday.
New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor has returned to side after recovering from eye surgery in late November and will rejoin the Test team for their two-match series against Bangladesh. Taylor had surgery to remove a pterygium, or growth, on his left eye that had affected his vision after the second Test victory against Pakistan in Hamilton. "It's great to have Ross back," New Zealand selector Gavin Larsen said in a statement on Thursday. "He has a phenomenal record that speaks for itself and he's coming off a terrific hundred in his last Test.
New Zealand openers Peter Fulton and Hamish Rutherford safely negotiated their way to the close of play on the third day of the third Test against West Indies on Saturday after their bowlers had set up a likely victory with a destructive display.
Quinton de Kock top scored as all South Africa's batsmen got among the runs in a score of 283 for three on the first day of the second Test against New Zealand at Centurion on Saturday.
Captain Steve Smith blasted a career best 164, the highest one-day international innings at the Sydney Cricket Ground, to power Australia to a crushing 68-run victory against New Zealand in the first ODI.
The hosts ended the day on 144-4 and Henry Nicholls (26) and BJ Watling (six) will resume in Mt. Maunganui on Saturday to try and eat into their 209-run deficit after England were dismissed for 353 after lunch on Friday.
Exploiting a turning track, left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja scalped three batsmen in one over to finish with a five-wicket haul while Ravichandran Ashwin grabbed four wickets as India bundled out New Zealand for 262 on day three to take control of the first Test in Kanpur.
The victory was New Zealand's fifth Test series win in succession and all the more remarkable with the entire first two days of play washed out.
With six lbw dismissals cluttering up their scorecard, New Zealand clearly did not put their best foot forward in the first test against India on Saturday. India spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja frequently beat the bats and hit the pads of the New Zealand batsmen, the hosts coming close to equalling the record of seven lbw dismissals in a test innings. "They were trying to play the sweep shot and we knew if an odd ball keeps low or an odd ball spins, there were always changes of an edge or an lbw," Jadeja, whose five-wicket haul included four leg befores, told reporters.
Dean Elgar and Hashim Amla had given South Africa a slender lead over New Zealand at the end of the third day of the first Test on Friday, which was disrupted for 30 minutes by a fire alarm at University Oval.
Dale Steyn grabbed five wickets to lead South Africa to a convincing 204 run-victory over New Zealand in the second test at Centurion on Tuesday that sealed a 1-0 win in the series. Set an unlikely target of 400 to win the match, New Zealand were bowled out for 195 with a day to spare as South Africa kept in tact their record of never losing a series against the Kiwis.
Images from Day 4 of the first Test between England and New Zealand at Lord's in London on Saturday.
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