Pakistan need 274 runs on the final day to win the second Test and complete a 2-0 series sweep against New Zealand after bowling the hosts out for 293 late on the fourth day.
Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi shared the bowling honours as Pakistan defeated Australia by seven wickets in a Twenty20 match in Dubai on Thursday.
England's opening batsmen safely negotiated the final hour's play to close the third day of the third Test with Pakistan on 36 without loss, chasing 324 to win, after Azhar Ali's mammoth innings of 157 put the hosts in a dominant position in Dubai.
Left-arm paceman Junaid Khan took his maiden five-wicket haul as Pakistan bundled out Sri Lanka for 197 in the first innings of the first Test in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Skipper Daniel Vettori and wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum rescued New Zealand with a blazing 176-run partnership on the second day of the third Test against Pakistan.
New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori on Monday clarified that no complaint was lodged with the match referee vis--vis suspicion of ball tampering by Pakistan's bowlers during the Super Eights match between the teams in the World Twenty20 at the Oval on Saturday. Fast bowler Umar Gul registered best-ever figures in Twenty20 cricket, claiming five for six in three overs as Pakistan won by six runs.
The Pakistan cricket camp in England is fuming over New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori's suggestions of ball tampering by fast bowler Umar Gul in their Twenty20 World Cup Super Eight match in London on Saturday.
Watch out for Shahid Afridi's pyrotechnics against Ravichandran Ashwin's variations, Umar Gul's pace against Virat Kohli's bravado and Saeed Ajmal's guile against Mahendra Singh Dhoni's flair.
Pakistan avenged their heart-breaking defeat in this year's World Twenty20 semi-final to beat Australia by 23 runs in the first T20 international in Birmingham on Monday.
All 12 men's squads for the ICC World Twenty20 2010 have been confirmed with the very best players in the world all getting ready for the big event, which gets underway in the West Indies later this month.
Pakistan have called up uncapped fast bowler Abdur Rauf for the final Test against India.
Seamers Rao Iftikhar and Umar Gul shared six wickets and Mohammad Yousuf hammered a century to guide Pakistan to a 25-run win over South Africa in the second one-dayer at the Gaddafi stadium on Saturday.
A half-century by Imran Nazir and three wickets from Umar Gul helped Pakistan beat New Zealand by six wickets in the first semi-final.
Pakistani cricket authorities have decided to rush fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar to South Africa to join the team before the first Test in Johannesburg which starts on Thursday.
The Pakistan A team, which will take on India in a three-day warm up game, includes seven Test cricketers.
In-form Pakistan batsman Mohammad Hafeez returned to Pakistan's 15-member squad for the Test series against Sri Lanka, starting in the United Arab Emirates, next week. Hafeez scored three centuries in four One-Day Internationals in the ongoing series against Sri Lanka.
Kashmiris across the region condemned the terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people, mostly tourists, with widespread protests and a shutdown in Srinagar and other parts of the valley. The attack was seen as an assault on the foundation of Kashmir's economy, with residents highlighting the importance of tourism to the region's livelihood. Protests were held in various districts, including Srinagar, Kulgam, Handwara, and Ramban, with residents united in their condemnation of the violence and calling for an end to terrorism.
In a major move, the selectors inducted a number of uncapped players in the squad for the West Indies tour, including wicketkeeper Mohammad Salman, batsman Usman Salahuddin, all-rounder Hammad Azam and fast bowler Aizaz Cheema.
Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq has said the pace trio of Umar Gul, Junaid Khan and Mohammad Irfan played a crucial role in Pakistan's first ODI series win in India since 2004-05.
Pakistan's speed merchants Mohammed Irfan, Junaid Khan and senior pro Umar Gul went full throttle at the team's nets session on Tuesday as they bowled aiming at one stump under watchful eyes of bowling coach Mohammed Akram.
Having conceded a 146-run first innings lead, England collapsed to 160 all out in their second innings, failing to recover after Umar Gul had wrecked their top order with a three-wicket burst.
Statistical highlights of the World Twenty20 match between Pakistan and New Zealand in Pallekele.
Pacer Mohammad Amir claimed a wicket on his return to international cricket following a five-year ban as Pakistan registered a 16-run victory over New Zealand in the first Twenty20 International in Auckland on Friday.
# Sachin Tendulkar has become the first Indian batsman to amass 400 runs in the 2011 World Cup -- 464 at an average of 58.00 including two hundreds and two fifties in eight games.
Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi on Monday patted his teammates for their all-round show in the seven-wicket win over Zimbabwe to qualify for the quarter-finals of the cricket World Cup.
In-form Pakistan will have to guard against complacency and their tendency to implode when they take on New Zealand in a World Cup Group A match in Kandy on Tuesday.
Afridi, who led Pakistan to their first one-day series win since late 2008 with victory over New Zealand on Thursday, will have Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq as his deputy.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly was adjudged 'Asian Cricketer' and 'Asian Batsman of the Year' at the Castrol Asian Cricket Awards in Karachi on Friday. Sachin Tendulkar was named 'Best ODI Batsman' while Gautam Gambhir grabbed the honour in Twenty20.
Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat against India in their Asia Cup ODI.
Shakib Al Hasan became the first Bangladeshi to hit a century and take five wickets in an innings in the same Test but his efforts look like being in a losing cause after Pakistan seized control of the second Test. All-rounder Shakib followed his first-innings 144 with the bat by snapping up six for 82 with the ball as the hosts bowled out Pakistan, already 1-0 up in the two-match series, for 470 on the fourth day on Tuesday.
"They (Pakistanis) are the enemies of the entire nation and we have been opposing their playing here for many years now," Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray told reporters in Mumbai.
Five foreign players, including West Indies opener Chris Gayle figure in the 14-member Kolkata Knight Riders squad for the Indian Premier League lung-opener against Bangalore Royal Challengers on April 18. The squad announced on Wednesday has New Zealander Brendon McCullum, Australian captain Ricky Ponting, David Hussey and Pakistani Mohammed Hafiz.
The International Cricket Council confirmed that its anti-corruption officer interviewed Pakistani cricketers Younis Khan, Danish Kaneria and Umar Gul in Lahore to gain "specific information". It, however, did not say whether the officer also quizzed banned fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar.
Mark Boucher's stumping of Umar Gul was his 396th dismissal (378 catches, 18 stumpings) in his 103rd Test match, surpassing Australian wicketkeeper Ian Healy's tally of 395 dismissals.
New Zealand won the toss and chose to bat in the Twenty20 World Cup first semi-final in Cape Town, South Africa on Saturday.
Indian opener Virender Sehwag and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Wednesday completed their 1,000 runs against Pakistan in One-day Internationals during the high-octane second semi-final of the World Cup.
It will be hard to catch up with Afridi now! After another incredible bowling performance on Wednesday at Mirpur (9.3-1-30-4), Afridi is now over 200 'runs' clear of Yuvraj Singh in the MVPI list.
Pakistani leg-spinner Danish Kaneria spun a web around the Australian batsman to reduce the hosts to 286 for 8 on Day 3 of the second Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Tuesday.
Pakistan's newly-appointed fielding and bowling coach Waqar Younus expressed confidence that the team has the potential to beat Australia on its upcoming tour.
