England found cricketing bliss by dint of divine intervention and Ben Stokes's brilliance, cracking a code that proved indecipherable for 44 years as history sliced through teary-eyed New Zealand's grasp in a final that will be remembered for ages.
New Zealand ripped through England's top order to close in on a series-leveling victory as the hosts limped to 102 for five at lunch on the last day of the second and final Test on Tuesday.
While the NZC will be updating its players about the health safety protocols and latest COVID-19 related developments, the onus will be on the six individuals to do due diligence.
After eight defeats in 11 outings, Chennai Super Kings will look to give their forgettable campaign a semblance of respectability when they take on in-form Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League in Dubai on Sunday.
Premier New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson showed his prowess in shortest format as his smashing innings powered Northern Knights to a convincing seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka's Southern Express in a rain-curtailed opening game of the Champions League T20 in Raipur.
Mumbai Indians have been in ominous form and the varied bowling attack could prove a challenge for the CSK batters, who are low on confidence.
The squad will then be trimmed to 15 for the ICC World Test Championship final against India at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton starting on June 18, as per ICC regulations.
Captain Kane Williamson struck a composed unbeaten century as New Zealand edged past South Africa by four wickets in a thrilling last-over finish.
India retained their number one spot and captain Virat Kohli remained static at second in the ICC rankings. India have 116 rating points, six more than New Zealand with third-placed Australia accumulating 108 points.
Sachin Tendulkar is the only Indian in former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum's all-time cricketing eleven, which is led by West Indian great Vivian Richards.
Two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders will be missing their key all-rounder Andre Russell but skipper Gautam Gambhir wants his team to treat the Jamaican's absence as an 'opportunity in bold letters' during the upcoming Indian Premier League.
Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor mastered a lifeless England attack to lift New Zealand to 303 for two at the close on the second day of the first Test at Lord's on Friday.
Talented youngster Shai Hope smashed his way to a blistering 101 while Andre Russell scored a quickfire 54 down the order to set up a 91-run win for World Cup dark horses West Indies in their warm-up game against New Zealand.
IMAGES from the IPL match played between Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils in Pune on Monday
The 25-year-old Yadav, who now has 99 ODI wickets, ended the match with the figures of 3-52.
Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma is in sublime form and he can pummel any attack into submission on his day.
One of New Zealand's most successful coaches who is now currently director of cricket at the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mike Hesson expects Rohit and Gill to open but wants Agarwal, who lost his spot in the eleven after two Tests in Australia, to be given a chance.
Neesham replaced Doug Bracewell in the team while leg-spinner Ish Sodhi made way for Astle.
Coming off heartbreaking losses, the Indian Premier League game between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab will be a test of character for both sides as they look to get back to winning ways, in Abu Dhabi, on Thursday.
Ishant and Mishra took three wickets each to decimate the Royals.
Ahead of the India-New Zealand series, Rajneesh Gupta looks at the Black Caps' Test records.
Talking about the final game of the ODI series, New Zealand all-rounder James Neesham, who is back after recovering from a hamstring injury, said he expects the ball to do a bit at the Westpac Stadium, like it did in Hamilton where India were bowled out for 92 before suffering an eight-wicket loss.
It was CSK who denied Delhi a top-two spot in the league standings with a crushing 80-run win at Chepauk and the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side stands in their way again, only the stakes are much higher.
India's pace spearhead Bhuvneshwar Kumar said the eight-wicket loss to New Zealand is a 'reality check' for the team.
Stand-in captain Rohit Sharma Tdescribed India's batting performance as 'one of the worst in a long time' after the visitors were shot out for their seventh lowest ODI total in a shocking eight-wicket loss to New Zealand.
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.
Fans offered prayers at 'Sangam' in Varanasi and also laid a 'chaadar' at the dargah
New Zealand's 2-0 series defeat on home pitches by Australia was a disappointing end to the Brendon McCullum era and showed the Black Caps have work to do if they hope to consistently challenge the top test nations.
Kirk Edwards and Darren Bravo scored half centuries as West Indies battled to save the first Test against New Zealand but were still 228 runs from making the hosts bat again at the close of play on the third day in Dunedin on Thursday.
Kohli (886 points) and Rohit (868 points) have gained two and three ratings points, respectively to occupy the top two positions in the batting rankings.
Martin Guptill's record score of 237 not out and Trent Boult's four-wicket haul propelled New Zealand into their third successive cricket World Cup semi-final.
New Zealand's pace attack of Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner, however, made life difficult for the visitors
Adam Voges continued to capitalise on an early reprieve by scoring his fifth test century as Australia eased to 463 for six by the close of the second day's play of the first match against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve on Saturday Voges was unbeaten on 176 at stumps with Peter Siddle on 29 as the Australians stretched their advantage to 280 runs, snuffing out any hope New Zealand had of claiming victory in captain Brendon McCullum's 100th test. The 36-year-old Voges has made the most of a lifeline when he was bowled by Doug Bracewell for seven with two deliveries remaining on Friday, only for umpire Richard Illingworth to signal a no-ball. Television replays showed the delivery was legal but because the infraction had been called on the field, New Zealand were unable to ask for a review. Voges has now scored 500 consecutive runs without being dismissed and now averages more than 100 from 19 innings. The Western Australian not only bettered Bradman's batting average, he broke the 12-year-old record of India's Sachin Tendulkar, who posted 497 consecutive runs - scores of 241no, 60no, 194no and 2 - from January to April 2004.
South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada will miss this Indian Premier League season after being ruled out of actin for up to three months with a lower back stress reaction.
South Africa captain AB de Villiers anchored his side to a six-wicket victory over New Zealand, whose bowling and fielding was far superior to a poor batting performance in the first game of their three match one-day series on Tuesday.
Opener Colin Munro hammered an unbeaten 109 before the Kiwi bowlers straitjacketed the Indian batsmen as New Zealand outplayed the hosts by 40 runs in the second Twenty20 to level the three-match series, in Rajkot on Saturday.
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