If divine intervention in 1992 was the heavens opening up against England in their do-or-die game, even the best bookies couldn't have predicted that the Netherlands would beat South Africa in 2022. A handful of them must have made a killing.
Pakistan middle-order batsman Mohammad Rizwan hit a defiant half century on a difficult batting pitch to guide his side past the 200-mark in their first innings and frustrate England in the second Test on Friday.
Pakistan will have 'revenge' on their mind for a recent off-field snub when they take on New Zealand in the T20 World Cup in Sharjah on Tuesday.
Former Test pacer Aaqib Javed said that Shaheen Shah Afridi's burst of two wickets with the new ball and Hasan Ali's one wicket put India on the back foot and they never recovered after that.
Australia's run-machine Marnus Labuschagne has displaced England captain Joe Root to claim the world's number one Test batter spot following a run of big scores in the ongoing Ashes series.
Images from Day 2 of the first Test match between England and Pakistan in Manchester, on Thursday.
The two sixes from Kohli has already become part of cricketing forklore and Ponting, too, looked back fondly at those outrageous strokes
No Indian featured in the top 10 of the bowlers and all-rounders' list.
Brandon King finally departed in the 16th over a well-made 67 and West Indies was left in a spot of bother, needing 55 to win from 28 balls. The visitors kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and in the end, Pakistan registered a win.
Images from the T20 World Cup match between Pakistan and South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday.
Resuming on their overnight total of 207-4, Pakistan ground down the Kiwi attack, with Sohail scoring 147 and Azam 127 not out before they declared their first innings on 418-5.
Images from the Asia Cup T20 match between Pakistan and Hong Kong in Sharjah on Friday
'Every team that's part of the tournament has worked its way up, has done something good and that's the reason they are here, and we take it like that.'
'Mouths will be shut for the rest of the tournament.'
Usman Khawaja's marathon 160 and Alex Carey's career-best 93 helped Australia rack up 505 for eight against Pakistan on Day 2 of the second Test in Karachi on Sunday.
Khawaja and Smith steadied the ship batting through the second session.
Don't look to survive, look to score runs against Shaheen Afridi, says Gautam Gambhir
On a Karachi track that is expected to break up early, Steve Smith and David Warner created rough patches before facing bowlers in the nets to prepare for Pakistan's full-strength attack.
Suryakumar Yadav received high praise from the great Ricky Ponting, who compared the batter with AB de Villiers, saying the Indian possesses a 360 degree game like the South African genius.
Images from Day 1 of the first Test match between England and Pakistan in Manchester, on Wednesday.
Imam-ul-Haq hit a memorable first Test century on Friday and led Pakistan to a commanding 245-1 in its first home Test against Aus in 24 years
Azizullah Fazli has been re-named chairman of the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) in the first major development in the game's national governing body since the Taliban took control of the nation.
Younis, who became the first Pakistan player to complete 10,000 Test runs, made 58 while Azam stroked 72 in dominating a 131-run third-wicket partnership which gave the tourists an upper hand into the final session of the day.
'Pakistan is an incredible cricket nation. We feel lucky to get to come back here after a whole generation didn't get the chance to play any cricket over here.'
Apart from Kohli, four other Indians who were picked in the ICC's Test and ODI Teams of the Year.
'He is very special. I believe he is going to be one of the best that Pakistan have ever produced'
Pakistan's weakened pace attack in the absence of injured Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah, didn't offer a challenge to Conway and Latham with the new ball as both batters took New Zealand to 41-0 by tea before adding 124 more runs in the final session.
Pakistan need to cash in on India's middle-order vulnerability, says Akram
'The strength of this England team is just how many people contribute. That is why they are a great team,' says Daren Sammy, the only captain to have won the T20 World Cup twice.
Sealing their second T20 World Cup, England are now the first nation to hold both global white-ball trophies, having won the 50-over World Cup on home soil in 2019.
And, Shaheen Afridi won the T20I bowling award for his annihilation of India in the 10-wicket win for Pakistan at the T20 World Cup.
Luck has been a major factor in teams progressing to the semi-finals. With rain gods intervening, the equations in both groups changed a bit. There was a lot of permutations and combinations that saw England, India, New Zealand and Pakistan progress:
England's Jason Roy hit a superb century and Ben Stokes carried them home as they beat Pakistan by three wickets at Trent Bridge on Friday, surviving a middle-order wobble to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series.
Three major upsets that highlighted this World Cup.
Pakistan will join India, England and New Zealand in the semi-finals
The pitch offered some variable bounce but did not pose too many problems for the batters till the final hour of play.
The winning runs were eventually scored by Mohammad Nawaz (25 from 21) as he hooked Williams to the mid-wicket boundary for six off the penultimate ball of the match to complete a memorable series win.
Aiden Markram struck a brisk half-century as the hosts levelled the four-game Twenty20 International series against Pakistan
Zak Crawley and Jos Buttler shared a record partnership and James Anderson grabbed three wickets to put England in total control at the close on the second day of the third and final Test against Pakistan on Saturday. Images from Day 2 of the third and final Test.
From the 12th over onwards, Virat Kohli hit 67 from his last 29 balls, scoring at a strike rate in excess of 200 to take the match away from Pakistan's grasp in great style.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances