Leg-spinner Yasir Shah took six second-innings wickets in Pakistan's crushing 133-run second Test win over West Indies in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday as they took an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. - Scorecard: The wily spinner finished with 6-124 to secure his second ten-wicket haul in Test cricket after claiming four wickets in the first innings as West Indies were bowled out for 322 before tea on a weary fifth and final day pitch at Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
The competition at the top promises to gain momentum as World No 2 Ben Stokes has also made huge gains to attain a career-best tally of 431 points, narrowing the lead from 66 to 54 points.
Marlon Samuels' unbeaten century proved in vain as Sri Lanka beat West Indies by 19 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method to complete a 3-0 one-day series whitewash on Saturday.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin grabbed five for 52 as Indian bowlers dominated the proceedings to bowl out West Indies for a meagre 196 on Day 1 of the second Test in Jamaica.
IMAGES from Day 4 of the second Test between India and West Indies at Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, on Sunday.
The sub-narratives in the main story will be equally intriguing in the next 13 days.
Dale Steyn became South Africa's second highest wicket taker as West Indies reached 276 for six on the first day of the third Test on Friday.
England levelled the three-Test series against West Indies after bowling the tourists out for 198 in the second innings to win by 113 runs in the final session of the second Test with Ben Stokes in inspired form at Old Trafford on Monday. England had declared their second innings at 129-3 in the first session in Manchester after sizzling all-rounder Stokes smashed 78 off 57 deliveries, setting West Indies a target of 312 with 85 overs left in the day.
England pace bowler James Anderson took a career best of seven for 42 on Saturday to destroy the West Indies' batting on the third day of the third Test at Lord's and set up his team for a 2-1 series victory.
Images from Day 5 of the third and final Test match between England and West Indies in Manchester, on Tuesday.
Jason Holder struck his maiden first-class century to lead the West Indies to a draw in the first Test in Antigua on Friday after James Anderson had become England's leading Test wicket-taker.
Uncapped teenage fast bowler Alzarri Joseph will join the 13-member West Indies squad for the second Test against India starting in Kingston, Jamaica on July 30, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) said. The 19-year-old Joseph has performed outstanding bowling feats for the U-19 side where he snared 13 wickets to lead West Indies to their World Cup title in Bangladesh. No other changes have been made to the Jason Holder-led squad which looked inexperienced against India's supremacy in the first game as they were thrashed by an innings and 92 runs.
Former off-spinner Graeme Swann slammed England's selectors for splitting the country's most successful new-ball pairing of Stuart Broad and James Anderson during the recently-concluded Test series against the West Indies, saying "you don't discard blokes with 500 Test wickets lightly".
'As a spinner, some will go your way some days and some won't, that is cricket. I don't look too much into that. I want to contribute with bat, ball and in the field. When my opportunities come I want to make sure I take them.'
West Indies coach Phil Simmons believes that the extended preparations after early arrival due to COVID-19 protocols have actually played a key part in his side's four-wicket win over England in the first Test at Southampton.
The famous win on Sunday was West Indies' first in the opening Test of an away series in almost 13 years. Jason Holder led from the front, taking a career-best six wicket-haul in the first innings.
England ended day four with a 170-run lead over West Indies as Zak Crawley and Dom Sibley notched up half-centuries in the second innings of the first Test at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton on Saturday. Images from Day 4 of the first Test between England and West Indies.
Images from Day 3 of the first Test between England and West Indies at the Ageas Bowl, on Friday
Captain Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers led the chase as South Africa cut the deficit to 102 runs in their bid to haul in the West Indies total of 329 before rain ended the second day of the third Test at Newlands on Saturday.
Hashim Amla's third double-ton for South Africa and Stiaan van Zyl's unbeaten century on debut against West Indies helped the hosts declare on 552 for five before rain brought an early end to day two of the first Test on Thursday.
The West Indies cricket team on Monday departed from Antigua for their scheduled three-test tour of England as international cricket is finally set to resume. Two planes collected players from various islands in the West Indies earlier on Monday before they all took a private charter flight for the UK, which will reach Manchester on Tuesday.
West Indies coach Phil Simmons believes their third Test win over England can be the foundation for better things for Caribbean cricket, but warns next month's Tests against Australia represent a sterner examination of his team.
Bangladesh collapsed to a 2-0 series defeat against West Indies, losing the second and final Test by 296 runs with a day to spare on Tuesday.
West Indies reached 114-5 against Pakistan with inspirational opener Kraigg Brathwaite still at the crease after a tense fourth day ended early due to bad light as they chased a victory target of 153 in the third test in Sharjah on Wednesday. Brathwaite was defiantly standing on 44 with Shane Dowrich on 36 leaving West Indies needing 39 runs to break a 14-match losing streak stretching back to last May last year. Pakistan began the day on 87-4 before a battling 91 by opener Azhar Ali and 42 for Safraz Ahmed looked to have steadied the ship.
'I think it makes total sense in Test cricket'
The West Indies batsmen crumbled late on Sunday to leave their team teetering at 91-6 and staring at another humiliating defeat at the close of day two of the second Test against Australia.
Bangladesh thrashed Australia by 60 runs in Dhaka on Monday to secure a comprehensive 4-1 series win, with the tourists' batsmen managing just 62 in 13.4 overs, their worst ever total in the format.
After Australia scored 399 in a first innings highlighted by a knock of 199 by Steve Smith, West Indies were left reeling at 143 for eight in reply, 256 runs behind and facing the prospect of having to follow-on on Saturday.
The West Indies beat England by five wickets in the second Test at Headingley on Tuesday to level the three-match series at 1-1.
The West Indies A top-order put up a gutsy show to force a draw despite another five-wicket haul by left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem as India A won the unofficial three-'Test' series 2-0.
Ravichandran Ashwin produced a bowling masterclass to grab 7 for 83 as India recorded their biggest ever win outside the subcontinent by thumping the West Indies by an innings and 92 runs in the first Test at Antigua to take a morale-boosting 1-0 lead in the 4-match Test series on Sunday. It was Ashwin's first five-wicket haul outside the subcontinent.
Rangana Herath picked up four wickets while spin partner Milinda Siriwardana took three as Sri Lanka defeated West Indies by 72 runs on the fifth day of the second and final Test on Monday to win the series 2-0.
Dale Steyn ripped through the West Indies top order to claim his 25th five-wicket haul in Test cricket and give South Africa an innings and 220-run victory on the fourth morning of the first Test on Saturday.
Fast bowler Dhammika Prasad picked up four wickets as hosts Sri Lanka bundled out West Indies for 163 to take a first-innings lead on the second day of the second and final Test at the P Sara Oval on Friday.
The wily left-arm spinner picked up four wickets on the third day to complete his 23rd five-wicket haul in Tests.
All-rounder Dwayne Bravo wrote his own piece of history, while Praveen Tambe became the first Indian cricketer to play in the Hero Caribbean Premier League as Trinbago Knight Riders posted their fourth straight win, beating St Lucia Zouks by six wickets via D/L method in a rain-truncated match, in Port of Spain on Wednesday.
Hat-trick man Jasprit Bumrah attains highest rating points by an India seamer since since Kapil Dev in 1981.
IMAGES from Day 4 of the 2nd Test played between England and West Indies at Manchester on Sunday.
England lost the series-opener by four wickets with Jermaine Blackwood leading West Indies to a memorable victory.
Opener Dimuth Karunaratne missed out on a maiden double hundred but his 238-run stand with fellow centurion Dinesh Chandimal set up Sri Lanka's first-innings total of 484 on day two against West Indies in the opening test at Galle on Thursday.
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