New Zealand ripped through Australia's batting line-up on a lethal wicket to leave the hosts foundering on 81 for seven in their first innings at lunch on the second day of the second Test on Saturday.
With the IPL season set to roll on Friday, one captain who has 100 Tests under his belt is willing and ready to mentor a newbie captain who will be taking over a leadership role for the first time.
Images from Day 2 of the first Test between India and New Zealand in Kanpur, on Friday.
IMAGES from the Day-Night Test, the first played between New Zealand and England at Auckland on Thursday
Since his comeback after an injury lay-off in August 2023, Jasprit Bumrah has been a key figure in India's success.
New Zealand's campaign has hit a disheartening flatline after their early domination and the Kiwis will have to rediscover their bowling mojo for a World Cup reboot when they face knocked-out Sri Lanka in Bengaluru on Thursday.
Kane Williamson was the proverbial cat with nine lives on Friday as he top scored for New Zealand with 47 against a fired up Indian pace attack keen on exploiting what they could from a green and bouncy Basin Reserve pitch.
'Gutted, the guys put in a huge effort to get this opportunity, to pretty much do all you could and still not get across the line'
Alastair Cook backs Joe Root to surpass Sachin Tendulkar as leading run-getter in Test cricket
Bumrah leads a competitive field, including South African speedster Kagiso Rabada (856) and Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood (851).
India's pace talisman Jasprit Bumrah's absence will certainly hurt India, but the team's quality batting and spin bowling make them title contenders alongside South Africa and Pakistan in the Champions Trophy.
Kane Williamson produced some brilliant placement under pressure to guide New Zealand to a five-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in their second Twenty20 international at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Tuesday.
Rajaneesh Gupta lists the amazing numbers that make Rohit Sharma one of the finest ODI batters of his time.
Fast bowler Lockie Ferguson will take over the captain's role for the first time in his career as regular skipper Kane Williamson continues to recover from a knee injury, and his deputy Tom Latham has been rested for the series.
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.
New Zealand on Monday named a strong squad, which includes five spin bowling options
IMAGES from the T20 World Cup match played between England and New Zealand in Brisbane on Tuesday.
In-form Sri Lanka right-hander Kamindu Mendis is another player on the move, with the 26-year-old improving five places to 11th and reaching a new career-high rating after he scored another century in the second Test of his side's recent series with New Zealand.
Williamson had moved to 148 at stumps with Mitchell Santner on 13, the home side holding a seven run lead over South Africa's first innings of 314.
Chasing a revised target of 235 from 33 overs following two rain interruptions, Australia were struggling at 53 for three in nine overs when the heavens opened up for the third time in the day, forcing the onfield umpires to abandon the game as both the sides split points.
Durban's Super Giants claimed a dramatic two-run victory over Pretoria Capitals in their high-scoring SA20 season opener in Durban
The importance of the three-match ODI series against New Zealand was not lost on Dhawan
New Zealand bowler Lockie Ferguson joined Canada skipper Saad Bin Zafar as only the second bowler in T20I history to bowl each of the allotted four overs as maidens, returning figures of 4-4-0-3. Zafar recorded 4-4-0-2.
New Zealand Cricket has indicated that it may not block its players from fully participating in the upcoming IPL if the knock-out phase matches of the lucrative league clash with the Test series opener in England beginning on June 2.
Kane Williamson has shown that classically elegant batsmen, too, could prosper big time in the slam-bang world of Indian Premier League cricket and former Australia batsman Dean Jones wants the likes of Ajinkya Rahane and Gautam Gambhir, who have struggled in this year's IPL, to take cues from the New Zealand captain.
Head coach Trevor Bayliss said the reason why Kane Williamson was left out of SunRisers Hyderabad's opening match against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday was because the New Zealand captain needs a bit of extra time to regain his match fitness.
NZ face WI in virtual knockout, rain threatens to derail England again
The Kiwis are scheduled to play England in two Tests in the first and second week of next month, following which they will face India in the ICC World Test Championship final from June 18-22.
Images from Day 2 of the first Test between England and New Zealand at Lord's on Friday, June 3, 2022.
Images from the T20 World Cup semi-final between England and New Zealand, in Abu Dhabi, on Wednesday.
Williamson said it would be "some achievement" for his team to be world champions in another format but would not like the prospect to be a distraction.
Kane Williamson, leading New Zealand in a Test for the first time at home, scored his 24th half century to guide the hosts to an eight-wicket victory in the first test against Pakistan in Christchurch on Sunday. Chasing a target of 105 for the win, Williamson was dismissed on 61 with the hosts just a run shy of victory. Jeet Raval (36 not out) hit a four to push New Zealand over the line on 108 for two shortly after lunch on the fourth day. New Zealand had bowled the visitors out in their second innings for 171 about an hour into the day's play at Hagley Oval.
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson was on Thursday hit by a bug, compounding the visiting team's misery, but opener Tom Latham sounded optimistic about the batsman's availability in the second Test against India beginning in Kolkata on Friday.
New Zealand coach confirmed his team would rest on Friday with temperatures expected to reach 45 degrees Celsius
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.
India will aim to shed their archaic playing style for good with a 'young and fearless' bunch in the three-match T20I series against New Zealand, starting in Wellington on Friday.
New Zealand and Bangladesh enter their final group match of the ICC Champions Trophy, in Cardiff, on Friday, with the knowledge that even a win may not be enough to see either of them into the semi-finals.
'It's just trying to understand what the best recipe is for the team you are in with the resources that you have'
The New Zealand captain's 51-ball 89 against Delhi Daredevils proved that he may not rival the power-hitting prowess of someone like Chris Gayle but is technically adequately equipped for the short format.
The win over Ireland saw New Zealand grab the top spot with seven points and a net runrate of +2.113.
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