'A year ago, if you told me we were coming here I would have been very confident, they were struggling a fair bit, the batting looked like they weren't really sure how to go about it.'
Terming Andre Russell as the heartbeat of the team, David Hussey said: "A fantastic player, he is probably almost the heartbeat of the team as well."
Faced with a do-or-die situation to stay afloat in the five-match series, New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said his injury-hit side was hoping that dashing batsman Brendon McCullum would be available on Saturday to bolster the batting line-up in the third ODI against India in Vadodara.
Injury-hit New Zealand got a boost as their skipper Daniel Vettori declared his availability for second ODI while opener Brendon McCullum is still a doubtful starter for Wednesdays match at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
Guess which Indian batsman has scored the most runs against New Zealand? Rajneesh Gupta tells you that and more.
Leach was ruled out of the five-match series on Sunday due to a stress fracture in his back
Images from Day 2 in the first Test between New Zealand and India, at Auckland, on Friday.
New Zealand will host England in two tests next February
Former skipper Sunil Gavaskar has suggested that Rajkot, the new team in the Indian Premier League, should have an Indian captain, saying it makes sense to have somebody who knows the local players well at the helm.
World champions Australia will hope to round off one of the nation's most successful seasons in cricket with victory in a rare Test series in New Zealand starting at Wellington's Basin Reserve on Thursday.
His presence will be a big boost for KKR whose next game is on April 6 against the Mumbai Indians and Cummins will be expected to play in that match.
'He is obviously a bit of a rough diamond.'
Despite his team being unable to defend a fighting total against Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League match in Sharjah on Tuesday, Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant asserted that the bowling unit does not need a "massive change".
A ballistic batsman himself, New Zealand opener Brendon McCullum on Tuesday picked West Indies skipper Chris Gayle, Indian opener Virender Sehwag and master blaster Sachin Tendulkar as players capable of scoring a double hundred in One-Day Internationals. The 27-year-old opener said Twenty20 cricket has changed the mindset of the players.
The former England captain expects experienced pacer James Anderdon to be part of England's touring squad for the Test series in India early next year.
New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori took three Bangladesh wickets in one over as the hosts slumped to 13 for three at the close of the fourth day of the rain-affected second Test against in Chittagong on Tuesday. New Zealand declared their first innings on 262 for six midway through the final session with Jesse Ryder (91) and Brendon McCullum (66) hitting half-centuries.
New Zealand won the first Twenty20 international match against West Indies by 81 runs at EdenPark on Saturday to go 1-0 up in the two-match series.
Be it the jam-packed stadiums at the UEFA Champions League, the intense trans-Tasman rivalry in cricket, there are certain events that enthralls fans. Brendon McCullum blasting into history with the fastest Test hundred in his farewell Test; but that wasn't enough as Australia completed a 2-0 clean sweep of the Kiwis. Rohit Sharma, yet again showing why is considered to be a special talent in limited-overs cricket as India thrashed host Bangladesh in the Asia Cup opener. In Champions League football, Lionel Messi's Barcelona proving too hot for old-rivals Arsenal. Be ready to be amazed as Rediff.com encapsulates all the sporting action from the past week in this super photo feature.
Potts, 23, dismissed New Zealand captain Kane Williamson for two to claim his first Test victim
New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori said the 84-run opening wicket stand between Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptil ultimately proved to be the key in their four-wicket win over England in a low-scoring crucial Group B match.
Brendon McCullum predicted a 'ripping match' when India and New Zealand clash in the inaugural WTC final
Skipper Brendon McCullum led from the front, smashing an unbeaten 83, as Otago Volts from New Zealand beat Pakistan's Faisalabad Wolves by eight wickets in a qualifying round match of the Champions League Twenty20 in Mohali on Tuesday.
It was a nightmarish experience for Knight Riders. With Deccan Chargers charging ahead in the IPL, after steamrolling new skipper Brendon McCullum's Kolkata, a crestfallen Shah Rukh may have had second thoughts on his team and captaincy.
Archer has not played international cricket since March last year due to an elbow injury, and had a second round of surgery on his elbow in December.
New Zealand humiliated Bangladesh by 10 wickets in the third one-day international at Queenstown on Monday to complete a 3-0 series clean sweep.
A blazing century opening partnership by Jesse Ryder and Brendon McCullum and tight bowling by Daniel Vettori helped New Zealand to a 36-run victory over West Indies in their second Twenty20 international on Sunday.
With Chennai Super Kings notching up a second straight win in Indian Premier League-8, the team's coach, Stephen Fleming, lavished praise on centurion Brendon McCullum while lauding the side's "dynamic" and "sensible" batting.
Left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan grabbed six wickets to put Bangladesh on top on the second day of the first Test against New Zealand in Chittagong on Saturday. The Kiwis, replying to Bangladesh's first innings 245, were reduced to 155 for nine at the close with captain Daniel Vettori 48 not out.
Images from Thursday's Champions League match between South Africa and New Zealand.
Glenn Maxwell and David Miller blasted half-centuries to power Kings XI Punjab to a six-wicket victory against Chennai Super Kings in a high scoring encounter in Indian Premier League, in Abu Dhabi.
Moeen Ali said Chennai Super Kings will always have an edge over their opponents because of the unpredictable strategies of their captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson won applauds for his innovative captaincy during the recently held World T20 in India. The Kiwi star will now be donning a new role, that of a solid middle-order batsman for his Indian Premier League team Sunrisers Hyderabad. Williamson along with India's Virat Kohli, Aussie captain Steven Smith and Joe Root of England are considered to be most technically correct batsmen in the present era. Catch him in a chat with IPLT20.com.
Statistical highlights of the second day's play in the first Test played between India and New Zealand in Hyderabad on Friday.
Brendon McCullum led New Zealand to a crushing 10 wicket win over England in a rain-interrupted limited-overs international at Hamilton on Tuesday, giving the Kiwis a 2-0 lead in their five-match series. Set a target of 165 from 36 overs to win, New Zealand cruised to victory at the start of the 19th over. McCullum finished unbeaten on 80 from only 47 balls.
The purists might be worried about the impact of Twenty20 on players' technique, but India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja feels that the shortest format has had no effect of the cricketers' skills as they are well-trained to shift gears whenever required.
England's new white-ball captain Jos Buttler has downplayed the prospect of becoming an opener for the Test team after he was touted for the role by ex-Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara.
Jamie How and Brendon McCullum shared a record partnership as New Zealand beat South Africa by seven wickets to level the one-day series on Friday. How and McCullum shared 154, New Zealand's biggest second-wicket stand against South Africa. The previous record was an unbroken 140 set by Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle in Johannesburg in 2002-03.
Alastair Cook did not quite agree his side may have the momentum from the drawn first Test against New Zealand as they head into the second on Thursday though his assertion they were growing in confidence sent an ominous warning to Brendon McCullum's team.
He is the only Indian to make the list that includes three South Africans including record-breaking captain AB de Villiers. Check out the team...
Skipper Ben Stokes expressed pride in how England have fought toe to toe with India despite not having 'a chance in hell of competing' with the hosts.
