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.
Getting the combination right would be topmost on Sunrisers Hyderabad's to-do list when they take on a qualitatively superior Mumbai Indians in an IPL encounter in Chennai on Saturday, trying to arrest an early slide after back-to-back defeats.
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.
Williamson, Kyle Jamieson and Mitchell Santner, along with the team physiotherapist, were unable to secure an exemption to travel to Britain until May 11 so will remain in New Delhi until then.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said he would also seek out Jofra Archer to offer an apology for the racial abuse the fast bowler said he was subjected to in the first Test.
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.
Prolific India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, the leading run-scorer in the ongoing Test series against England, has been nominated for ICC Men's Player of the Month Award for February alongside New Zealand's Kane Williamson and Sri Lanka's Pathum Nissanka.
'New bunch, new guys with a lot of excitement and energy'
This is a settled team and the majority of this squad will be available for the next World Cup, so they've got the building blocks of something very special.
Paceman Josh Little picked up Ireland's second hat-trick in T20 internationals when he grabbed a trio of New Zealand victims at the T20 World Cup on Friday.
Mumbai did well to defend 208 in batsmen-friendly conditions.
New Zealand set Pakistan a tricky target of 319 and then landed two late blows to boost their hopes of a series-clinching victory in the second Test on Thursday.
Kane Williamson was looming as the difference between a comfortable Australian win in the second Test against New Zealand and a match situation that could tip the scales either way, according to both sides.
Tuesday's game will be a repeat of the semi-finals of the 2008 ICC Under-19 World Cup in which a Kohli-led India defeated a Kane Williamson-captained New Zealand in Kuala Lumpur.
Kane Williamson said it was time for the Black Caps to move on from the disappointment and focus on the India series.
New Zealand look to carry a bit of confidence from the 3-0 ODI series whitewash of the visitors.
Images from the T20 World Cup Super 12s match between India and New Zealand, in Dubai, on Sunday.
A sublime unbeaten 145 by Kane Williamson led New Zealand to a 27-run victory over the Proteas in the second One-day International on Tuesday to seal their first series win on South African soil.
Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan praised the team's collective display after they claimed an emphatic 84-run victory over New Zealand.
'Rather than worrying too much about results, it's about trying to stick to a brand of cricket that we want to be proud of playing. I guess that's something that came out in the 2015 World Cup and it's flowed on from there.'
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson extolled Pakistan bowlers' "outstanding" performance against them, saying their clinical show at the death was of the "highest class".
Pakistan lost two early wickets before captain Babar Azam steadied the ship with an innings of 79.
The win also pushed the Black Caps firmly into contention for one of two berths in June's inaugural World Test Championship final at Lord's.
Indian openers have not replicated the kind of starts the Indian batting has grown accustomed to from its top-order.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has reclaimed the No.1 position in the MRF Tyres ICC Men's Test Player Rankings after leading his side to the ICC World Test Championship title in Southampton last week.
New Zealand's fast bowling department has been hit hard by injuries as Matt Henry, Doug Bracewell and Adam Milne have also been sidelined.
Captain Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor combined to put New Zealand in a strong position in the first Test before India struck back late on Saturday to remove both just as their partnership threatened to take the match away from the tourists. Images from Day 2 of the first Test between New Zealand and India in Wellington on Saturday.
Tim Southee, once half of the most feared new-ball partnership in the game, brought down the curtain on a glittering 16-year Test career after New Zealand crushed England for a consolation win in Hamilton on Tuesday.
Martin Guptill will play in his seventh T20 World Cup and Devon Conway will keep wickets in addition to his batting duties at the tournament
India has only minor concerns, but New Zealand's troubles across batting and bowling departments are more pronounced.
Sachin Tendulkar leads the cricket world to hail New Zealand's triumph.
New Zealand batsmen have the necessary skills to negotiate the Indian spinners on turning tracks but must apply themselves for longer periods, captain Kane Williamson said after his team's loss in the opening Test on Monday.
New Zealand picked two uncapped players in all-rounder Daryl Mitchell and pacer Blair Tickner for the three-match T20 International series against India.
Images from ICC Champions Trophy match between Australia and New Zealand at Edgbaston, Birmingham on Wednesday.
Stead said about Kane that he is a batter who rises for big occasions, calling him a "special player".
Kane Williamson has amassed 410 runs from 10 games, scoring five half-centuries. His highest score has been 84.
New Zealand will go into the final day of the first Test against Sri Lanka needing 257 runs for victory with nine wickets in hand.
A superb rear-guard knock of 47 not out from James Franklin helped New Zealand pull off an improbable one-wicket victory against South Africa in the first one-day international on Saturday.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is too familiar with the fickleness of cricket's shortest format to take his team's red-hot form for granted going into Wednesday's World Twenty20 semi-final against England. The Kiwis cruised into the last four as the only unbeaten team in the tournament to book a clash with England who seem to be peaking at the right time. "I know that going into tomorrow, it's a big, exciting match but our feet are firmly on the ground and we going to be running to perform our plans as best as we can," the bearded 25-year-old told reporters at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Williamson has displayed the tactical flexibility required to win a major tournament by sacrificing pace and gambling with three spinners, a ploy that paid off in the tournament opener against hosts India.
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