Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal picked up two wickets in the last session to restrict Sri Lanka to 220 for 5 at stumps on the first day of the third and final Test in Sharjah on Thursday.
Trent Boult took two wickets in one over and broke a partnership that had threatened to take the game out of New Zealand's reach as Sri Lanka reached 264 for seven by the end of a rain-shortened first day of the second Test on Friday.
Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes produced a record 273-run partnership in an unbroken opening stand to help Bangladesh whittle down Pakistan's huge lead to 23 runs at the close of the penultimate day of the opening Test at Khulna on Friday.
Mahela Jayawardene, batting with three stitches in his left hand, ignored the pain to complete his 32nd Test hundred and put Sri Lanka firmly in the driving seat in the second Test against Pakistan in Dubai on Thursday.
Martin Guptill struck his third Test century while Kane Williamson fell just short his 13th as New Zealand blunted Sri Lanka's inexperienced bowling attack to set themselves up for a big total in the first Test in Dunedin on Thursday.
Captain Cook also hits form, strikes 125-run opening partnership with Trott -- England's first century opening stand since March 2013.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
Opener Dimuth Karunaratne missed out on a maiden double hundred but his 238-run stand with fellow centurion Dinesh Chandimal set up Sri Lanka's first-innings total of 484 on day two against West Indies in the opening test at Galle on Thursday.
A tenth-wicket stand of 127 between BJ Watling (103) and Trent Boult (52 not out) helped New Zealand to a first innings total of 469 on the second day of the opening match in a two-Test series against Bangladesh on Thursday.
Sunil Narine and Kemar Roach took three wickets each as Bangladesh were bowled out for 70 to give West Indies victory in the second one-day international by 177 runs on Friday.
Yuvraj Singh knocked at the doors of national team selectors following a superb, quick-fire century (89-ball 123) to lead India 'A' to a thumping 77-run victory over West Indies 'A' in the first of the three-match One-day series, in Bangalore on Sunday.
The Indian team's batting woes continued as they lost their opening warm-up tie of the ICC World T20 against Sri Lanka by five runs in Dhaka on Monday.
Hashim Amla's third double-ton for South Africa and Stiaan van Zyl's unbeaten century on debut against West Indies helped the hosts declare on 552 for five before rain brought an early end to day two of the first Test on Thursday.
Captain Usman Khawaja and his opening partner, Joe Burns, smashed scintillating centuries as Australia 'A' thrashed a hapless India 'A' by 119 runs in the second tri-series match in Chennai on Friday.
Australia can take the top Test ranking from India with a series victory
Captain AB de Villiers smashed an unbeaten 101 in his 200th One-Day International to lead South Africa to a five-wicket victory over England and a 3-2 series win at Newlands on Sunday.
Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam became the first cricketer to claim a hat-trick on his debut in a One-day International as he set up a five-wicket victory for Bangladesh over Zimbabwe on Monday.
Virat Kohli's woeful form continued as India 'A' were shot out for a paltry 135 by Australia 'A' in the second unofficial 'Test' in Chennai on Wednesday.
Cameron White scored an unbeaten 41 and steered Australia to a dramatic two-wicket victory over South Africa on the penultimate ball of the match to clinch the Twenty20 international series 2-1 on Sunday.
Bangladesh thrashed South Africa by seven wickets in the second one-day international on Sunday to tie the three-match series at 1-1 after an inspired bowling performance saw the Proteas bundled out for 162, their lowest total against the hosts.
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.
The right-arm medium pacer caused Maharashtra's batsmen a lot of problems with his extra bounce on a green Wankhede wicket, taking four wickets for 62 runs as Maharashtra struggled to 219 for 7 in 57 overs in their first innings, at stumps on the second day, in reply to Mumbai's 402 all out.
Sri Lanka took the upper hand after the third day of the opening Test at Galle on Friday, reducing Pakistan to 118-5 after Kaushal Silva's second Test century took the hosts to 300 in their first innings.
Contrasting centuries by a relentless Alastair Cook and an inspired Ben Stokes lifted England to 429 for six at the close of a compelling fourth day of the first Test against New Zealand on Sunday.
Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan picked all three New Zealand wickets to fall as the visitors put up 107 for three before rain returned to halt play on Day 2 of the second and final Test on Tuesday.
Ben Stokes provided the gloss and Joe Root the glue as England recovered from a terrible start to reach 354 for seven at the close on the opening day of the first Test against New Zealand at Lord's on Thursday.
Former champions South Zone progressed to the semi-final of the Duleep Trophy cricket tournament by pipping West Zone by virtue of a 313-run first innings lead after their four-day quarter-final ended in a draw in Chennai on Sunday.
Pakistan crushed Bangladesh by 328 runs on Saturday to win their final Test with a day to spare.
Zimbabwe completed only their 11th Test victory with a dramatic 24-run win over Pakistan at Harare Sports club on Saturday to draw the series 1-1.
A patient 94 not out from Marlon Samuels helped West Indies recover against England to end the first day of the second Test on 188 for five in Grenada on Tuesday.
Jason Holder struck his maiden first-class century to lead the West Indies to a draw in the first Test in Antigua on Friday after James Anderson had become England's leading Test wicket-taker.
A fine innings of 143 from Ian Bell helped England to recover from a terrible start and finish the first day of the first Test against West Indies on 341 for five in Antigua on Monday.
India A struggled as they reached 145 for six in reply to South Africa A's first innings total of 341 at stumps on the second day of the second 'Test' in Pretoria, on Sunday.
Leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal claimed the first hat-trick of his career to guide Ranji Trophy champions Karnataka to a convincing innings and 222 runs victory over Rest of India in the final of the Irani Trophy, in Bangalore, on Wednesday.
In-form Naman Ojha struck his third successive century while No.10 batsman Umesh Yadav smashed a quickfire 90 to give India 'A' the upperhand against Australia 'A' on Day 3 of the second unofficial Test match.
Maiden centuries by Shamsur Rahman and Imrul Kayes took Bangladesh past the follow-on mark but late strikes from the spinners put Sri Lanka in the driving seat in the second and final Test in Chittagong on Thursday.
Kumar Sangakkara struck his maiden triple hundred and became the ninth batsman to score 11,000 Test runs as a dominant Sri Lanka took control of the second and final Test against Bangladesh on Wednesday.
The West Indies held their nerve in the death overs to beat New Zealand by six runs and enter the final of the ICC women's World T20, in Mumbai, on Thursday.
The wily left-arm spinner picked up four wickets on the third day to complete his 23rd five-wicket haul in Tests.
Chris Jordan claimed five wickets as England bowled Sri Lanka out for 67 runs, their third lowest total in one-day internationals, to help win the third ODI with a resounding 10-wicket victory on Wednesday.
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