New Zealand beat a vastly different South Africa team by six wickets in Lahore three weeks ago, two days after beating Pakistan at the same venue.
IMAGES from the Champions Trophy second Semi-final between New Zealand and South Africa played at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on Wednesday
Spinner Varun Chakravarthy justified his selection with a five-wicket haul and bowled India to a 44-run victory against New Zealand.
Matt Henry took the second five-wicket haul of his career to bowl New Zealand to a 36-run victory over Sri Lanka in the fifth one-day international and seal a 3-1 series victory at Bay Oval in Mt. Maunganui on Tuesday.
Spinner Maheesh Theekshana's hat-trick was in vain as New Zealand clinched the three-match One-Day International series against Sri Lanka with a game to spare after a 113-run victory in a rain-shortened second one-day international in Hamilton on Wednesday.
'We cannot say suddenly that Crawley and Pope have solved the technical and mental issues that have dogged their careers because the Zimbabwe bowling was so average.'
Veteran Zimbabwe wicketkeeper-batter Brendan Taylor on Thursday created history by making a resolute return to international cricket after a hiatus of of three-and-a-half years.
Virat Kohli anchored another tricky chase with perfection after Mohammad Shami's sizzling five-wicket haul as India outclassed New Zealand by four wickets.
New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner acknowledged the challenge posed by India's understanding of the conditions in the Champions Trophy final, but expressed confidence in his team's ability to adapt. Santner believes the experience of playing against India in a league match will help, and is hoping his batters will be better prepared to face mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy this time around.
'We'll be putting our thinking caps on how to nullify that threat while still scoring runs against him.'
Skipper Kane Williamson's brilliant 97 and Matt Henry's maiden five-wicket haul gave New Zealand a comprehensive 68-run victory over Pakistan in the final one-dayer in Abu Dhabi on Friday. New Zealand won the series 3-2.
Wriddhiman Saha will retire from cricket at the end of this year's Ranji Trophy.
After his fifty, social media was abuzz that this could be Rohit's final appearance in an ODI.
That said the pitch is going to get challenging for the batters as the game wears on.
Under Rohit Sharma, India won the 2018 and 2023 ODI Asia Cup, runners-up position in the 2023 World Cup at home and triumphed in the the ICC Champions Trophy in March.
Images from Day 2 of the first Test between New Zealand and South Africa in Christchurch on Friday.
Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra smashed rapid unbeaten centuries to set up New Zealand's successful pursuit of a 283-run victory target, which came with 13.4 overs to spare.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction saw some foreign names earning big bucks, headlined by Aussie all-rounder Cameron Green
New Zealand went down to India by four wickets in the title-decider in Dubai on Sunday, suffering a fourth loss in four short-format global finals over the last decade.
Kane Williamson is too long in the tooth to get dragged into the debate over India getting to play the Champions Trophy final in Dubai.
IMAGES from Day 4 of the first Test played between India and New Zealand in Bengaluru, on Saturday.
New Zealand World Cup campaign on shaky ground as losses, injuries pile up
The Australians still managed to score at a fair pace and will resume on Monday on 77-4 with Mitch Marsh, who was 27 not out, and Travis Head, unbeaten on 17, looking to cut deeper into their 279-run victory target.
India will look for the right balance as they aim for a series-levelling victory against a spunky New Zealand in the must-win second Test.
IMAGES from the Day 1 of the third Test played between India and New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday
NZ bowlers dismissed the tourists for 164 and reducing them to 113 for two, still 303 runs in arrear
England took charge of the first Test against New Zealand on Saturday, riding Harry Brook's 171 to a first-innings lead of 151 before reducing the Black Caps to 155/6 on Day 3.
Cricket Australia named Bumrah as the captain of its Test team of the year, which also features Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Vettori heaped praise on pace bowlers Trent Boult and Matt Henry after they dismissed India's top three of KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and skipper Virat Kohli for one run each.
With Team India looking unstoppable, World Cup-winning former India pacer S Sreesanth says no team can prevent it from winning the Champions Trophy final on Sunday.
Pace spearhead Trent Boult has been omitted from the white-ball squad a few months after being released from his national contract.
New Zealand made a strong start to their bid for a consolation victory in the third and final Test against England at Hamilton's Seddon Park on Saturday, reaching lunch on the opening day on 93 without loss.
Tamilians and Keralites believe he is one of them, and people from Karnataka also consider him their hero.
Lucknow Super Giants pacer Matt Henry was in awe of the "world-class batsmanship" of skipper KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock, saying the century-plus opening stand between the duo helped them outclass a "very good" Chennai Super Kings bowling attack in the IPL match in Lucknow on Friday.
IMAGES from Day 3 of the 1st Test played between India and New Zealand in Bengaluru, on Friday.
India has only minor concerns, but New Zealand's troubles across batting and bowling departments are more pronounced.
A confident New Zealand side will be eager to seal a semi-final spot when they take on Bangladesh, who will be fighting for survival, in their Champions Trophy Group A match in Rawalpindi on Monday.
Pakistan were all out for 260 in 47.2 overs with Babar Azam (64) and Khushdil Shah (69) scoring half-centuries but the hosts never looked in the hunt.
New Zealand held their nerve under the floodlights to beat Bangladesh by two wickets in a dramatic low-scoring Cricket World Cup match at The Oval on Wednesday.
The last time the two teams faced off in Lucknow last week, KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock put up a record opening partnership
