Cricket News

Pakistan coach Waqar Younis has said his side needs to improve its fielding and batting against the short ball to be competitive at the 2015 World Cup

New Zealand capped a hard-fought tour of the UAE with a commanding win in the final match to take the ODI series against Pakistan 3-2

New Zealand and Pakistan have managed something special over the last week and a half - a bilateral one-day series that does not want for context

New Zealand withstood Younis Khan's first ODI hundred since November 2008 and another thunderous blitz from Shahid Afridi to beat Pakistan by seven runs and tie the series 2-2 going into the final ODI

The fourth ODI between Pakistan and New Zealand, in Abu Dhabi, will go ahead as scheduled

Everything that could go wrong for New Zealand went wrong in Sharjah and with the series on the line, they will need to pick themselves up pretty quickly

Kane Williamson, New Zealand's stand-in captain, has said his team needs to "reflect" on the lessons from the third ODI against Pakistan, and continue to learn how to cope with conditions that they are not used to

A firm century from Ahmed Shehzad was supplemented by a stroke-filled fifty from Shahid Afridi to lift Pakistan to 364 for 7 - their third highest total in 50-over cricket and the highest in Sharjah in 218 matches - and beat New Zealand by 147 runs

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq will take no further part in the one-day series against New Zealand, having picked up a hamstring injury during the second ODI on Friday

New Zealand won their last two matches in Sharjah - the Test and the ODI - and would eye a third win that would give them a lead in the ODI series

Injuries have forced Umar Gul and Bilawal Bhatti out of the Pakistan squad for the remaining three ODIs against New Zealand

Kyle Mills, the New Zealand quick bowler, will play no further part in the ODI series against Pakistan due to a groin strain

Kane Williamson's unbeaten 70 - his sixth ODI fifty in the last seven matches - steered New Zealand's 253 run chase and helped them draw level with Pakistan in the five-match series

Having broken their five-match losing streak, Pakistan will be looking to balance their goal of winning the series with their need to experiment for the position of the extra bowler

Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, admitted that Mohammad Hafeez's bowling suspension had been an issue for the side but was pleased with the effort that Haris Sohail had shown as a part-time bowler in the first ODI

Half-centuries from Haris Sohail and an unexpectedly restrained Shahid Afridi revived a floundering chase as Pakistan won a thrilling first ODI by three wickets

New Zealand and Pakistan embark on a five-match ODI series in conditions starkly different from those expected for the World Cup, but team combinations and momentum will be key for both sides

For Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, the lead-up period to the World Cup is all about 'building confidence'

Kane Williamson hopes the ODI series against Pakistan will expose his players to the pressures of 50-over matches and help build a strong squad for the World Cup

With Corey Anderson sitting out the second T20, Jimmy Neesham said he had to assume greater responsibility, and that suited him fine