Brendon McCullum - playing his last Test match- produced a sensational display of stroke-play, blasting to the fastest hundred in Test cricket history. McCullum took 54 balls to reach the three-figure mark, two less than the previous record. Viv Richards and Misbah-ul-Haq held the previous record with 56-ball hundreds. In terms of time taken, McCullum's hundred in 78 minutes is the joint fourth fastest in Test cricket. Statistician Rajneesh Gupta glances at the records of the fastest hundreds in Test cricket:
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list IPL 2021's 50 Most Valuable Players up to Game 29.
New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor has returned to side after recovering from eye surgery in late November and will rejoin the Test team for their two-match series against Bangladesh. Taylor had surgery to remove a pterygium, or growth, on his left eye that had affected his vision after the second Test victory against Pakistan in Hamilton. "It's great to have Ross back," New Zealand selector Gavin Larsen said in a statement on Thursday. "He has a phenomenal record that speaks for itself and he's coming off a terrific hundred in his last Test.
New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham on Monday congratulated the countrymen for eradicating coronavirus and attributed their success to three things -- planning, determination and teamwork.
Rohit, who has made a comeback to the Test side, will now leave for Australia with India's T20 squad on Friday.
The troubles plaguing the Australian Test team will have little bearing on their one-day side's performance in the three-match series against New Zealand starting on Sunday, according to Black Caps coach Mike Hesson. Steve Smith's Test side have been pilloried by fans and their own media after they lost their latest series 2-1 at home to South Africa. That defeat came on the back of a 5-0 one-day series loss in South Africa and a 3-0 Test series defeat in Sri Lanka, leading to plenty of questions being asked about administrators, management and the players.
Afghanistan registered a thumping 202 runs victory over New Zealand to move into the Super League semi-finals of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in Christchurch on Thursday.
Chasing a record total, New Zealand could only muster 160 for 9 in their 20 overs.
Dimitri Mascarenhas will step down as New Zealand bowling coach at the conclusion of next month's series against Australia to spend more time with his family, the team said on Friday. The former England all-rounder had been in the role for a little under a year, initially on an interim basis as Shane Bond's replacement, before taking it on full-time. The constant travel away from his young family had been the main reason behind his decision to give up the post, the former Otago coach said.
New Zealand head coach Mike Hesson has confirmed that senior batsman Ross Taylor has vision problems and will be soon seeing an eye specialist before the second Test of the ongoing two-match series against Pakistan. Taylor, who has been under the scanner owing his recent Test form, did not bat at his usual number four spot in the second innings of the Christchurch Test which the Black Caps comfortably won by eight wickets. The New Zealand head coach said the 32-year-old had his eyes checked before the start of the match and "it certainly showed he needed to see a specialist."
India will begin their campaign against New Zealand in the ICC Women's World T20, to be held in the West Indies from November 9 to 24.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list IPL 2020's 50 Most Valuable Players.
Bruised and battered by India after being bundled out for a meagre 79 while chasing 270 in the series-deciding fifth and final ODI here, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson termed the performance of his batting department as "frustrating". Williamson said the Kiwi batsmen did not justify to lose eight wickets for just 16 runs. "That's what's so frustrating, because we failed as a batting unit. The spinners of the Indian side bowled very well but I don't think it is justified to lose 8 wickets for 16 runs. We need to look at some of our plans. There was turn in the pitch in some other games too but we were able to handle it better then," Williamson said after their massive 190-run defeat in the fifth and final ODI in Vizag.
Former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori could make a surprise return to the Test arena as coach Mike Hesson considers taking three spinners into the deciding clash with Pakistan in Sharjah which starts on Wednesday.
Colin Munro blasted a quickfire half-century as New Zealand pipped India by four runs in a high-scoring thriller to win the three-match T20 International 2-1, in Hamilton, on Sunday.
Impressed with their consistent showings in the tournament so far, former Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson on Sunday backed Shahid Afridi and his men to emerge winners in the much-anticipated World Cup semi-final against India.
Paceman Dushmantha Chameera took career-best figures with aggressive short-pitched bowling to give Sri Lanka a slight advantage at the close of play on the second day of the second Test against New Zealand at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Saturday.
While BCCI, as of now, will not give up its hosting rights and wait how the COVID-19 situation in India pans out, there is very little chance that countries will want to travel to India which is facing its worst health emergency since independence.
Kane Williamson became the second New Zealand batsman to score 1000 Test runs in a calendar year as the hosts built an imposing 308-run lead over Sri Lanka at the close of the third day's play of the first Test in Dunedin.
Panesar also expects the ICC to prepare a neutral wicket and not a green top as the WTC is supposed to be a good advert for the five-day game.
New Zealand are preparing for the third test against India as scheduled despite a local media report that the remainder of the tour has been cancelled by the Indian cricket board due to financial problems. The Indian Express newspaper quoted an unnamed official from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as saying the board's bank accounts had been frozen after a recommendation by the Lodha Committee, a court-appointed panel set up to look into its operations.
While multiple-time world champions and Champions Trophy winners Australia are always a tough nut to crack, New Zealand will enter the game at Edgbaston with renewed confidence after their six-wicket warm-up win over Sri Lanka at the same venue.
New Zealand's Mark Craig has been ruled out of the rest of the Test series against India because of a side strain and will be replaced in the squad by fellow off-spinner Jeetan Patel, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) said on Monday.
In the ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, Australia's Ryan Harris has moved up two places to second following his six wickets against India in the fourth Test at MCG.
Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who tormented the New Zealand batsmen with his five-for, said it was Kane Williamson's dismissal by R Ashwin in the morning session which proved to be a game-changer for the hosts. Ashwin bowled a peach of a delivery to clean bowl the Kiwi captain as India reduced the visitors from overnight 152 for one to 238 for five by lunch on day three of the first Test at Green Park.
India's batting sensation Virat Kohli, named player of the tournament, is also the most valuable player of World T20 2016. With a fifty and two wickets, England's Joe Root is just behind him.
England and Australia are slated to lock horns against each other in the Ashes later this year. England would be squaring off against New Zealand and India in the longest format before the Ashes.
The below-par Test record of Rohit Sharma is expected to be the focus of discussion when the selection committee, headed by Sandeep Patil, picks the Indian cricket squad for the home Test series against New Zealand . Despite Rohit's poor form in the Tests, he has the confidence of captain Virat Kohli, who feels that the ODI specialist should be given a longer run to prove himself in the Test format.
New Zealand seamer Doug Bracewell is a doubt for the first Test against England, which starts in Dunedin on Wednesday, after cutting his foot on glass when cleaning up after a house party.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly said the pitch for the third Test between India and South Africa was unfair on the batsmen and called for ICC's intervention into the matter.
Kolkata Knight Riders coach Brendon McCullum says it is also comforting to be at home as the world battles a pandemic, which has made isolation the new normal. He said the situation demands that everyone stays at home and maintains social distancing, the only way to curb the spread of the virus, which has caused thousands of deaths worldwide.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson would have liked to have had more Test cricket this season after series victories over West Indies and England in the four red-ball matches they were able to host.
New Zealand are hoping to give a better account of themselves when they take on the Indian Board President's XI in the final warm-up game on Thursday before the first One-Day International, in Mumbai on October 22.
Did Virat Kohli deserve to be replaced as India's ODI captain? Rajneesh Gupta presents all the numbers.
Captain Joe Root was dismissed off the last ball of the fourth day moments after he had been struck on the hand by a Trent Boult bouncer to put New Zealand firmly in the driving seat to win the rain-affected first Test at Eden Park.
Dean Elgar made the most of being dropped early in his innings to score his seventh Test century and anchor South Africa's 229 for four at the close of play on the opening day of the first Test against New Zealand in Dunedin on Wednesday.
Sachin Tendulkar led the cricketing fraternity in lauding the fighting spirit of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja in the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand.
South Africa captain AB de Villiers calmly guided his side to a tense four-wicket victory over New Zealand with one ball to spare in a rain-affected first one-day international in Hamilton on Sunday.
Boult took 6-33 as Australia, who only needed to square the series to retain the trophy, were dismissed for 257 on the final ball of the 47th over as they chased New Zealand's 281 for nine.
Star all-rounder Ben Stokes had sneaked off for a "cigarette break" in order to calm his nerves ahead of the Super Over during last year's epic World Cup final against New Zealand, an anecdote which finds mention in a new book on England's triumph.