Veteran all-rounder Mitchell Santner will captain the New Zealand side for the three-match T20I series against India.
Desperate Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be under tremendous pressure to get their act together against an equally struggling Mumbai Indians when the two teams face-off in an Indian Premier League match in Mumbai on Thursday.
With no Jasprit Bumrah in the Indian line-up, the 'Men In Blue' are missing a trick. And despite Mohammed Shami's brilliance in the warm-up game against Australia on the other day in Brisbane, the bowling unit doesn't inspire much confidence.
Captain Kane Williamson struck a composed unbeaten century as New Zealand edged past South Africa by four wickets in a thrilling last-over finish.
Victory left New Zealand on 10 points and in pole position to bag the last semi-final spot and join India, South Africa and Australia. Pakistan will now need to beat England by a massive margin to leapfrog New Zealand on net run rate.
'We're prepared to discuss all contingencies, if the situation warrants. For argument's sake, if it occurred with one of the Test players, it might make more sense for them to continue on to England [for the Test tour and world championship final]'
New Zealand's Adam Milne is hoping to make a difference in Sunday's must-win clash against India at the Twenty20 World Cup after being left frustrated on the sidelines for the opening loss to Pakistan.
Pakistan will not only have to win the remaining three matches, starting with New Zealand, but also hope that the results in other matches favour them to salvage any hopes of a semi-final berth.
The threat of rain looms large over the contest between the tournament's only two unbeaten teams.
KKR struggled for stability in the last edition in the UAE, while a change of captaincy at the halfway stage did not help them either.
The batting as a whole has not clicked for Sunrisers and it is no surprise they find themselves in a desperate situation in the second half of the tournament.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing for the World Cup match against New Zealand?
It will be a test of Virat Kohli's tactical acumen against the ice-cool demeanour of Eoin Morgan when perennial underachievers Royal Challengers Bangalore clash with former champions Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL Eliminator in Sharjah on Monday.
Senior New Zealand opener Martin Guptill was ruled out of the three-match series after failing to recover from a back injury.
Neesham replaced Doug Bracewell in the team while leg-spinner Ish Sodhi made way for Astle.
The New Zealand government tightened border restrictions and stating that all those entering the country from Australia would be subjected to a mandatory 14-day self-isolation period. The new restrictions, which come into from Sunday midnight, would have led to the New Zealand team being quarantined if it stayed back to complete the assignment.
'RCB will make decision regarding captaincy after mega auction'
With the series on the line, captain Hardik Pandya is unlikely to make changes despite clamour for inclusion of Prithvi Shaw.
New Zealand Cricket officials have commissioned international security consultant and expert Reg Dickason to visit Pakistan later this week to carry out a thorough security and COVID-19 assessment before advising them whether they should send their team to Pakistan.
Images from the T20 World Cup Group C match between the West Indies and New Zealand in Trinidad on Thursday.
Jimmy Neesham's scintillating performance with bat and a gutsy cameo by Mitchell Santner overshadowed Kieron Pollard's heroics
Narine's figures of 4-21 helped KKR take an upper hand. Anything under 140 in the IPL is always good for the chasing team, and KKR eventually won with two balls to spare.
With five consecutive defeats, bottom-placed RCB have the daunting task of winning their remaining seven games to keep their play-off prospects alive.
How the IPL teams have shaped up after the auction.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team comes into the match with two wins on the bounce and, like always, will be tough to beat at their 'den'.
Once again, RCB are looking on course to finish without a trophy after losing six out of their first seven games.
Hardik Pandya is touted as a possible captaincy option for Mumbai Indians in the future.
The Rajasthan Royal bowlers fended off the RCB batters in the Eliminator in Ahmedabad.
It rained fours and sixes in Bengaluru as a total of 549 runs were scored -- the highest aggregate in a T20 match.
The major highlights from the deadline day as teams announced their retention list for IPL 2024.
All about IPL 2025 which kicks off on March 22, Saturday.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player Index of T20 World Cup 2024 after Game 54.
Trent Boult, Finn Allen, Jimmy Neesham, Adam Milne and Scott Kuggeleijn, coaches and former players James Pamment and Shane Bond, Mike Hesson were the first to land in Auckland
KKR bowling Bharat Arun said they have to improve their batting and bowling in the first six overs of Powerplay.
Pushed into a tight corner, Royal Challengers Bengaluru rose above their frailties to notch four wins on the trot and stay alive in the race to play-offs. However, a volatile Delhi Capitals offer them a different challenge in their penultimate IPL league match in Bengaluru on Sunday.
SunRisers Hyderabad has the biggest purse while Kolkata Knight Riders has the slimmest purse.
Former champions Kolkata Knight Riders will look to strike a perfect balance under the astute leadership of Eoin Morgan when they open their IPL campaign against a consistent Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai on Sunday.
With this win, the Kiwis are at the top of the points table with two points while Australia are at the bottom with zero points. It was a memorable day for New Zealand as they outclassed the defending champions and their arch-rivals in every department.
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson struck a quick-fire half-century as his team registered a comfortable six-wicket win over Bangladesh in the first T20 of the three-match series at the McLean Park here on Tuesday. Opting to bat first, Bangladesh made a slow start to their innings, losing opener Tamim Iqbal (11) and Imrul Kayes (duck) cheaply. Although Mahmudullah did provide his side with some resistance with his 52-run knock, Bangladesh were restricted to a score of 141 runs in their stipulated 20 overs.
