Tag: New Zealand

Fast bowler Kyle Jamieson faces another long spell on the sidelines after suffering a stress fracture in his back, New Zealand Cricket announced on Saturday.

Jamieson has been ruled out of cricket for at least six months after scans revealed the injury following New Zealand’s first Test win over South Africa in Mount Maunganui this month.

The towering seamer took match figures of 6-93 but later complained of back pain, which ruled him out of the second Test.

The injury is in the same location as a fracture which required an operation in February last year but team medical staff have decided against another operation.

The 29-year-old said the prospect of another period of rehabilitation was difficult to accept.

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“The last few days have been some of my most challenging but I am hugely grateful for the support I’ve received from my partner, family, teammates, support staff and medical professionals,” he said.

“I know injuries are part of life as a cricketer and at my age I am hopeful I still have many more playing days ahead of me.”

Kyle Jamieson has taken 80 wickets at an average of 19.73 in 19 Tests since his debut in 2020.

He is likely to be replaced by paceman Will O’Rourke for the two-Test home series against Australia starting in Wellington on February 29.

O’Rourke was named man of the match on Test debut in the second Test against South Africa in Hamilton this week, taking match figures of 9-93 in the seven-wicket win which secured a 2-0 series victory.

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HAMILTON: New Zealand won a Test series against South Africa for the first time with Kane Williamson hitting an unbeaten century on Friday to steer them to a seven-wicket victory in the second Test.

Williamson’s unbeaten 133 was at the heart of their 269-3 in the fourth innings of a tight Test to complete a 2-0 series win over the understrength tourists.

The Black Caps hadn’t beaten the Proteas in 17 previous Test series dating back to 1931, having lost 13 and drawn four.

The 33-year-old Williamson was methodical throughout a 260-ball stay, putting on an unbroken stand of 152 with Will Young, who scored 60 not out, as New Zealand reached their target of 267 late on day four.

The in-form Williamson scored his seventh century in his last seven Tests, which included twin tons in the 281-run first Test victory at Mount Maunganui.

His 32 centuries have come from 172 innings, surpassing Australia’s Steve Smith (174 innings) as the fastest player in Test history to reach that milestone.

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Williamson batted through the day after New Zealand resumed at 40-1, adopting a disciplined approach on a tricky pitch, but was always prepared to punish loose deliveries, scoring 12 fours and two sixes.

New Zealand seamer Will O’Rourke finished with nine wickets on his Test debut to earn the man-of-the-match award with Williamson named player of the series.

New Zealand briefly wobbled when opener Tom Latham was dismissed in the first session for 30 and Rachin Ravindra soon after lunch for 20, but Young dug in to reach his seventh half-century.

The inexperienced Proteas struggled to make an impact aside from Dane Piedt, who finished with 3-93 to give him eight scalps in his first Test in more than four years.

Offspinner Piedt struck early by removing Latham, the opener caught by Zubayr Hamza driving to short cover after adding nine to his overnight score.

Ravindra was undone by a near-identical shot after New Zealand had resumed the second session at 107-2.

South Africa were fielding a side missing the majority of their first-choice players, who skipped the series to instead contest their lucrative domestic Twenty20 league.

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South Africa’s David Bedingham scored a maiden century on Thursday to leave New Zealand with the challenging task of scoring 267 to win the second and final Test in Hamilton.

New Zealand, inspired by debut seamer Will O’Rourke’s five-wicket haul, were 40-1 in their second innings at stumps on day three, still 227 short of their target.

Tom Latham was not out on 21 while Devon Conway was trapped leg before wicket by Dane Piedt for 17 in the day’s final over.

The highest successful fourth-innings chase by any team at Seddon Park was 212, achieved by Australia against New Zealand 24 years ago.

Bedingham’s career-high 110 was comfortably the standout knock in South Africa’s second innings of 235, supported by 43 from Keegan Petersen and 34 from captain Neil Brand.

It hands the understrength tourists an opportunity to square the series 1-1 and deny the Black Caps their first-ever series win over the Proteas.

With his team 31 runs ahead in the first innings, Bedingham batted aggressively in difficult batting conditions.

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The 29-year-old scored 12 fours and two sixes in a 141-ball stay that backed up his 87 from the first Test in Mount Maunganui, which South Africa lost by 281 runs.

Bedingham and Petersen combined for a crucial fifth-wicket stand of 98 before Petersen’s dismissal sparked a collapse, with the last six wickets falling for 33 runs.

O’Rourke had too much pace and bounce for the tailenders, finishing with 5-34, giving him nine wickets in an eye-catching Test debut from the 22-year-old.

Earlier, he removed Raynard van Tonder for one and then Brand in quick succession to have South Africa in trouble at 39-3.

Glenn Phillips, who claimed two wickets with his part-time off-spin, pulled off three catches in the gully, two of them spectacular.

Phillips’ easiest catch was to remove Bedingham off an O’Rourke delivery that climbed steeply.

Bedingham was able to capitalise on New Zealand’s failure to include a specialist spinner on a pitch that is favouring slow bowlers, scoring freely off Phillips and Rachin Ravindra.

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HAMILTON: All-rounders Ruan de Swardt and Shaun von Berg led the South African rearguard on Tuesday as they recovered to 220-6 after New Zealand had dominated the start of the second Test here on Tuesday.

De Swardt had reached his maiden half-century to be 55 not out at stumps on day one, while von Berg was on 34 on his Test debut, with the pair having combined for 70 off 27 overs.

It represented a recovery for South Africa, who won the toss but were 64-3 at lunch and 150-6 early in the final session when key batsman David Bedingham was dismissed in freakish fashion.

After losing the opening Test in Mount Maunganui by 281 runs, an understrength South Africa must win at Seddon Park to avoid becoming the first team from their country to lose a Test series to New Zealand.

De Swardt — one of six Proteas debutants in the first Test — showed the specialist batsman how to preserve his wicket in a gritty 135-ball knock.

He received support from 37-year-old leg-spinner von Berg, finally given an international opportunity after playing 135 first-class matches.

The pair halted a mini-collapse on either side of the tea break inspired by Rachin Ravindra, who took 3-33.

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Ravindra, who scored 240 in the first Test, underlined his all-round talent by removing Zubayr Hamza for a painstaking 20 off 99 balls and Keegan Petersen for two.

His left-arm spin then accounted for the unfortunate Bedingham, on 39, whose leg-side flick struck the top of his shoe and flew to close-in fielder Will Young.

South Africa made a dreadful start against New Zealand when makeshift opener Clyde Fortuin was dismissed for the nought first ball in the second over, the wicketkeeper caught brilliantly in the gully by Glenn Phillips off Matt Henry.

Pace bowler Will O’Rourke claimed a scalp on debut when he had captain Neil Brand trapped leg before wicket for 25, while Raynard van Tonder was out for 32 in the over before lunch, caught at gully after failing to get on top of Neil Wagner’s short delivery.

South Africa boosted their spinning stocks, introducing von Berg and recalling off-spinner Dane Piedt for his first Test in four years.

They replaced opener Edward Moore and seamer Duanne Olivier.

For New Zealand, 22-year-old O’Rourke replaced Kyle Jamieson, who had back pain following the first Test.

Veteran seamer Wagner was recalled in place of spinner Mitchell Santner, while Young replaced batsman Daryl Mitchell, who was ruled out with a foot injury.

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Former Australian captain Steve Waugh has blamed the International Cricket Council (ICC) and leading cricket boards for not ‘caring’ about Test cricket after South Africa named their squad for the tour of New Zealand.

Steve Waugh’s criticism came in the wake of South Africa announcing a depleted squad, featuring seven uncapped players for the two-match Test series against New Zealand, commencing from February 4, 2024.

South Africa announced uncapped batter Neil Brand as the captain for the New Zealand tour which will be played at the same time as SA20 league, featuring the frontline Proteas players.

Steve Waugh voiced his concern for the future of Test cricket while putting the blame on ICC and major boards for not taking proactive steps for it.

“Obviously they don’t care, but If the ICC or someone doesn’t step in shortly then Test cricket doesn’t become Test cricket because you’re not testing yourself against the best players,” Waugh said.

“I understand why players don’t come. They’re not getting paid properly. I don’t understand why ICC or the top countries who are making a lot of money don’t just have a regulation set fee for Test matches which is a premium, so people are incentivised to play Test Cricket,” he further added.

Steve Waugh furiously stated that not sending a full-fledged team is disrespectful to Test cricket as well as the opposing team.

“If I was New Zealand I wouldn’t even play the series. I don’t know why they’re even playing. Why would you when it shows a lack of respect for New Zealand cricket?”

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Steve Waugh also expressed concerns that if the same tradition persisted, then Test cricket would not remain as competitive in future as it should be.

“The public are the ones who are going to suffer because it’s not the full side playing, so it’s not Test cricket,” Waugh concluded.

South Africa will play the first Test against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui from February 4 to February 8, while the second Test will be played from February 13 to February 17 in Hamilton.

South Africa squad for New Zealand series

Neil Brand (c), David Bedingham, Ruan de Swardt, Clyde Fortuin (wk), Zubayr Hamza, Tshepo Moreki, Mihlali Mpongwana, Duanne Olivier, Dane Paterson, Keegan Petersen, Dane Piedt, Raynard van Tonder, Shaun von Berg, Khaya Zondo

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MOUNT MAUNGANUI: New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner took four wickets as they beat Bangladesh by 17 runs in a rain-affected third and final Twenty20 international on Sunday to draw the series 1-1.

After dismissing the tourists for 110 in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand’s top-order collapsed to 49-5 before Jimmy Neesham and Santner recovered to reach 95-5 off 14.4 overs.

When heavy rain halted play, the Black Caps were comfortably ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) target, thanks largely to an unbeaten 28 from all-rounder Neesham.

The result denied Bangladesh a first series victory on New Zealand soil in any format, having lost the preceding ODI series 2-1.

“Our bowlers did the job up front keeping them to 110 and it’s good to get across the line in what’s been a pretty tough-fought series,” Santner said.

“It got quite tight in the end today. Credit to Bangladesh, their bowlers have bowled extremely well. They put us under some real pressure again.”

After asking Bangladesh to bat first on a lively Bay Oval pitch, Santner claimed 4-16 off his four overs, stifling an innings that was already struggling at 41-3 when he was introduced.

Seamers Tim Southee, Adam Milne and Ben Sears all took two wickets.

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Milne (2-23) removed Bangladesh captain and top-scorer Najmul Hossain Shanto for 17 when he skied a full-pitched delivery to point.

Shanto rued the fact that he and four other Bangladesh batsmen reached double figures, but all failed to convert into a substantial score.

“The bowlers did a great job but the batsmen didn’t get runs today,” he said.

“In T20s the top of the order is very important. Our batsmen got starts, like 15 or 17, but they’re not taking the game deep.”

Four of New Zealand’s top order were dismissed for one run and when Finn Allen followed after scoring 38, Neesham held the innings together as the storm clouds gathered, with solid support from Santner who was unbeaten on 18.

Seam bowler Shoriful Islam took 2-17 off 3.4 overs.

Bangladesh won the first game in Napier on Wednesday by five wickets, before Friday’s second match was abandoned after 11 overs because of rain in Mount Maunganui.

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MOUNT MAUNGANUI: Heavy rain forced the second of three Twenty20 internationals between hosts New Zealand and Bangladesh to be called off at Bay Oval on Friday.

New Zeland scored 72-2 in 11 overs, with Daryl Mitchell (18) and Glenn Phillips (9) on the crease when rain played spoilsport and halted the play.

Having put the Black Caps into bat under overcast skies at Mount Maunganui on Friday, Bangladesh struck early when opener Finn Allen was caught in the second over with New Zealand on nine for one.

Tim Seifert smashed 43 off 23 balls before being caught to end his second-wicket partnership of 49 with Daryl Mitchell before rain started to fall.

Bangladesh are currently leading the series 1-0 after their bowlers ran riot in the opening match last Wednesday, paving the way to a five-wicket victory in Napier.

It was the visitors’ first-ever T20I win over the Black Caps in New Zealand.

Asked to bat by Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, New Zealand made a disastrous start losing three wickets before reaching 134 for nine after their 20 overs.

The Black Caps bowlers gave home fans hope with the early wickets of Bangladesh openers Rony Talukdar and Shanto.

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Veteran Litton Das partnered up with Soumya Sarkar, and then Towhid Hridoy to steer Bangladesh to 96-4 after 13 overs.

The visitors were wobbling at 97-5 as they lost wickets in quick succession after Afif Hossain was caught for one run in six balls.

Das, who finished on 42 not out, survived two close calls as he battled cramp.

The on-field umpire gave him out lbw on Tim Southee’s bowling, but the Bangladesh opener stayed at the crease when the review showed the ball would have sailed over the stumps.

Ish Sodhi then caught Das at the boundary but stepped onto the boundary rope to give away six runs.

It fell to Mahedi Hasan, who finished 19 not out, to hit the winning runs in his partnership of 40 with Das with eight balls spare.

Bangladesh have a good chance to seal their first series win in New Zealand in any format on Sunday when the third and final T20 is also held at Mount Maunganui.

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NAPIER: Bangladesh claimed a historic five-wicket win over New Zealand on Wednesday after their seamers ran riot in the opening game of their three-match T20I series on Wednesday at McLean Park.

This was Bangladesh’s first Twenty20 win on New Zealand soil, four days after also claiming a maiden away one-day international win over the Black Caps in Napier.

Asked to bat by Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, New Zealand made a disastrous start losing three wickets before reaching 134 for nine after their 20 overs.

The Black Caps bowlers gave home fans hope with the early wickets of Bangladesh openers Rony Talukdar and Shanto.

Veteran Litton Das partnered up with Soumya Sarkar, and then Towhid Hridoy to steer Bangladesh to 96-4 after 13 overs.

The visitors were wobbling at 97-5 as they lost wickets in quick succession after Afif Hossain was caught for one run in six balls.

Das, who finished on 42 not out, survived two close calls as he battled cramp.

The on-field umpire gave him out lbw on Tim Southee’s bowling, but the Bangladesh opener stayed at the crease when the review showed the ball would have sailed over the stumps.

Ish Sodhi then caught Das at the boundary but stepped onto the boundary rope to give away six runs.

It fell to Mahedi Hasan, who finished 19 not out, to hit the winning runs in his partnership of 40 with Das with eight balls spare.

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The second and third Twenty20 in Internationals will both be played at Mount Maunganui on Friday, then Sunday.

Bangladesh, ranked ninth in Twenty20 international cricket, punched above their weight to floor third-ranked New Zealand.

Having dismissed New Zealand for 98 in Saturday’s third one-day international in losing the series 2-1, the Bangladesh bowlers picked up where they left off.

Hasan bowled Tim Seifert in the opening over.

Shoriful Islam was the pick of the Bangladesh bowlers with 3-26, including having Finn Allen caught and Glenn Phillips trapped lbw in consecutive balls.

Daryl Mitchell hit consecutive fours before falling for 14 to leave New Zealand 20-4.

Mark Chapman hit 19 off as many balls before being caught with the score on 50-5.

Captain Mitchell Santner and James Neesham put on 41 before Sarkar made his second catch to dismiss Santner, having also caught Allen in the slips.

Neesham fell two runs short of his 50, holing out at deep cover point, and Southee was caught on eight.

Adam Milne hit a towering six off the final ball to finish 16 not out, but Bangladesh’s batters chipped away at New Zealand’s tally.

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LAHORE: Spin bowler Abrar Ahmed, wicketkeeper batter Haseebullah Khan and pace bowler Abbas Afridi earned their maiden call-up to the T20I squad of Pakistan for the tour of New Zealand.

Wahab Riaz, the head of the national men’s selection committee, accompanied by selection consultant Kamran Akmal announced a 17-member Pakistan squad for the T20I series during a press conference.

Pakistan is scheduled to play a five-match T20I series against New Zealand commencing from 12 January 2024 to 21 January 2024.

This will be Shaheen Afridi’s first assignment as the T20I captain after being named Pakistan’s captain in the shortest form following Babar Azam’s resignation last month.

Leg spinner Shadab Khan was ruled out of the series due to an ankle injury, which he suffered during the National T20 Cup.

Abrar Ahmed, who is currently part of Pakistan’s Test squad in Australia, will form the spin attack in New Zealand with fellow leg-spinner Usama Mir as well as all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz and Iftikhar Ahmed.

Meanwhile, wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Haris is rested for this series after being part of the Pakistan squad for the home T20I series against New Zealand earlier this year.

“We have rested Mohammad Haris for this series. We know his capability and he is part of our plans going forward,” said Wahab Riaz over Haris’ exclusion from the squad.

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“There were some domestic performers in First Class cricket who we wanted to give a chance and increase our pool of players, so we rested Haris from this tour,” he added.

Opening batter Sahibzada Farhan was recalled into the T20I squad on the back of his impressive performance in the National T20 Cup, where he was the highest run-scorer with 492 runs in 12 innings at an average of 44.72 and a strike rate of 178.90.

Farhan has previously represented Pakistan in three T20Is back in 2018.

Explosive wicketkeeper batter Azam Khan was also recalled into the T20I side, after missing out in the last T20I series against New Zealand.

22-year-old pace bowler Abbas Afridi also earned his maiden call-up to the national side after his impressive performances throughout the year.

Afridi was the highest wicket-taker in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) earlier this year with 23 wickets in 11 matches, and he followed that with 14 wickets in nine games during the National T20 Cup.

Pakistan’s squad will partake in a training camp from 28 December 2023 to 03 January 2024 in Lahore to prepare for the tour.

In addition to the selected played in the squad, some additional players have also been invited to feature in the training camp, including, Ahmed Shehzad, Omair Bin Yousuf, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Amir Khan, Sajjad Ali, Mohammad Haris, Aarif Yaqoob, Shahab Khan and Mohammad Imran Jnr.

Pakistan squad for the tour of New Zealand

Shaheen Shah Afridi (c), Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Abrar Ahmed, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Zaman Khan, Aamir Jamal, Azam Khan (wk), Sahibzada Farhan, Haseebullah Khan (wk) and Abbas Afridi.

Schedule of the Series

First match: New Zealand vs Pakistan, 12 January, Auckland

Second match: New Zealand vs Pakistan, 14 January, Hamilton

Third match: New Zealand vs Pakistan, 17 January, Dunedin

Fourth match: New Zealand vs Pakistan, 19 January, Christchurch

Fifth match: New Zealand vs Pakistan, 21 January, Christchurch.

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DUNEDIN: Opener Will Young cracked a rapid century as New Zealand recovered from a dreadful start to beat Bangladesh by 44 runs on Sunday in the rain-affected first ODI match.

The match was shortened to 30 overs each after three rain delays to New Zealand’s innings in Dunedin.

The home side burst into life in the final stages to post an imposing 239-7.

Needing an adjusted target of 245 to win the first ODI of the three-match series, Bangladesh were restricted to 200-9 in a chase that lost momentum.

New Zealand bounced back after losing two wickets in the game’s opening over when Bangladesh seamer Shoriful Islam had Rachin Ravindra and Henry Nicholls both caught without scoring.

A brilliant 171-run stand for the third wicket between Young, who hit 105 off 84 balls, and captain Tom Latham, who finished with 92 runs, handed the advantage back to the hosts in a match played in overcast conditions throughout.

Their stand straddled two stoppages, which reduced the innings from 46 overs to 40 and then to 30.

The pair hit out in brutal fashion over the last 10.4 overs, when the hosts chalked up a remarkable 131 runs.

Latham fell short of his eighth ODI century, bowled by off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz, but Young forged on to reach three figures for the third time in the 50-over format before being run out in the final over.

Young said his first priority was to steady the innings after its disastrous start.

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“Tommy and I set up a nice partnership although it was on and off with the rain,” Young said.

“We came back on with 10 overs to go and we thought why not have a crack? And it came off today. It was nice to get a few out of the middle at the end and it’s the icing on the cake to finish with a win.”

Shoriful was comfortably Bangladesh’s best bowler, taking 2-28 off six overs.

The chase began brightly, with opener Anamul Haque reaching 43, supported by Towhid Hridoy (33) and Liton Das (22), who all scored at better than a run a ball.

However, the pursuit tailed off when Afif Hossain fell for a hard-hit 38 in the 24th over, with his team still needing 80 runs.

Visiting captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said the result was “very disappointing” after Islam’s early fireworks.

“If we’d taken a third wicket, it could have been a different ball game,” said Shanto, before singling out the expensive spin bowling of Mehidy and Afif as a weak point.

“I think our fast bowlers bowled really well but our spinners need to learn quickly before the next match.”

New Zealand’s best bowling figures of 2-24 were recorded by allrounder Josh Clarkson, who made his debut along with seamer William O’Rourke.

The remaining games are in Nelson and Napier next week as Bangladesh seek their first ODI win over the Black Caps on New Zealand soil after 17 defeats.

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