Tag Archives: New Zealand

MNA International Desk: The heavy smoke from devastating Australian bushfires cloaked Auckland, turning the city’s skyline into eerie orange colour on Sunday afternoon. New Zealand meteorology service MetService forecast that an upper level jet of westerly winds was driving the smoke across the Tasman Sea towards New Zealand. The smoke was expected to arrive Sunday evening and was likely to be largely gone by the morning. It is the second layer of smoke coming from the Australian bushfires, which is cloaking the North Island and upper parts of the South Island. Much of the South Island awoke to sepia skies ...

MNA Sports Desk: England are crowned world champions for the first time. New Zealand tied England’s score of 15 in the super over but England were crowned champions as they had hit six more boundaries than the Kiwis during regulation play of 50 overs. As a result, according to the ICC rules, England were crowned champions even though the scores were level after the super over. England’s Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler took 15 off Trent Boult’s over. Jofra Archer bowled England’s over against Martin Guptill and Jimmy Neesham, who smashed a six off the second ball. With two runs required ...

MNA Sports Desk: The first semifinal match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 between India and New Zealand will resume on Reserve Day on Wednesday after rain stopped play on Tuesday. The match will resume from New Zealand’s score of 211 for 5 in 46.1 overs Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson hit fifties for the Kiwis after they came under pressure from the Indian bowling attack. All five Indian bowlers bagged one wicket each before rain came down heavily . Earlier, New Zealand won the toss and decided to bat first against India. India playing XI Lokesh Rahul, Rohit ...

MNA Sports Desk: New Zealand held their nerve under the floodlights to beat Bangladesh by two wickets at The Oval on Wednesday. Chasing a modest target of 245, Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson shared a third-wicket partnership of 105 to put the Black Caps on course for a comfortable victory, but they lost six more wickets before notching up their second win of the tournament with 17 balls to spare. Set 245 to win, New Zealand was cruising at 218-5 in the 43rd over, but the loss in consecutive overs of allrounders Colin de Grandhomme and Jimmy Neesham left tailenders Mitchell ...

MNA Sports Desk: Bangladesh’s failure to take advantage of the wicket led to their humiliating loss to New Zealand in the second Test at Wellington, Mahmudullah Riyad said Tuesday. Beating Tigers by an innings and 12 runs confirmed the Kiwis’ series win with one match to go. Bangladeshi batsmen appeared clueless against New Zealand pace attack. Left-arm pacer Neil Wagner took 16 wickets in the series so far, most of them have been notched by short deliveries. “I think the help from the wicket was equally the same for both groups of the bowlers. They (Kiwis) utilised the wicket properly, ...

MNA Sports Desk: New Zealand won by eight wickets against Bangladesh in the first ODI in Napier on Wednesday. The Kiwis started their three-match series against Tigers with a comprehensive victory chasing 233 runs with 33 balls to spare. The second ODI is a day match scheduled for Saturday. After Trent Boult led the home side with early wickets that derailed the visitors, Guptill ensured the modest chase didn’t see any hiccups. It was how Boult and Matt Henry bowled in the first 10 overs that nearly decided the outcome. They took the first four wickets before Lockie Ferguson and ...

MNA Sports Desk: Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza is confident his team can break their drought in New Zealand during the upcoming series, even without their talismanic all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan. Shakib was ruled out of the upcoming three-match one-day international series at the eleventh hour, with a fracture to the little finger on his left hand. The all-rounder’s absence will make winning that much tougher for Bangladesh, who have not defeated New Zealand in any format during their previous four visits to the country. Bangladesh’s only win in New Zealand came in 2015 when they beat Scotland by six wickets ...

MNA Sports Desk: Ben Stokes’s arrival in New Zealand on a ‘private’ trip has been viewed with suspicion in neighbouring Australia, where pundits smelled a plot to recall the exiled cricketer to England’s Ashes squad. New Zealand-born Stokes was omitted from England’s touring party following his arrest on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm in an incident outside a Bristol nightclub in September. He remains suspended by the England and Wales cricket board (ECB), pending the result of a police investigation. Stokes greeted his parents after touching down at Christchurch airport on Wednesday but batted away questions from a media ...

MNA Sports Desk: Peru became the last side to clinch their place at next year’s World Cup finals when goals in each half from Jefferson Farfan and Christian Ramos gave them a 2-0 win over New Zealand in the second leg of their inter-confederation playoff on Wednesday. The teams played out a 0-0 draw in the first leg in Wellington on Saturday but Peru got their noses in front on 27 minutes when Farfan hammered home a fierce rising shot from just inside the penalty area to complete a sweeping counter-attack. New Zealand brought on Chris Wood at halftime in ...

MNA Sports Desk: The International Cricket Council (ICC) is set to approve plans for its long-awaited World Test Championship at a meeting in New Zealand this week, it was reported Monday. The sport’s governing body has argued for years that a Test championship is needed to boost the five-day format’s popularity as crowds and television viewers flock to the big-hitting Twenty20 version of the game. But squabbling over formats and fears that some nations will be disadvantaged have twice stymied efforts to launch a league structure since 2010. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that plans for a nine-nation Test championship ...

MNA Sports Desk: England captain Eoin Morgan praised his ‘outstanding’ bowling attack after the tournament hosts booked their place in the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy with an 87-run win over New Zealand in Cardiff. Tuesday’s success means England will return to the Welsh capital as Group A winners for a last four clash against the as yet unknown Group B runners-up on June 14, in an event featuring the world’s leading eight one-day international teams. England looked to have fallen short of a par score despite making 310 all out after Joe Root (64), Alex Hales (56) and Ben ...

MNA Sports Desk: New Zealand captain Kane Williamson made exactly 100 before rain saw his side’s Champions Trophy opener against Australia at Edgbaston on Friday end in a no-result washout. This was an identical outcome to when the teams met at the Birmingham ground in the last edition four years ago. Australia, who were left needing a revised target of 235 to win in 33 overs, were 53 for three off nine when the players left the field for the final time Both teams received a point apiece for the no result from what was their opening match of the ...

MNA Sports Desk: Bangladesh got their prized first away win over New Zealand a week before the start of their Champions Trophy campaign. The Black Caps set the Tigers a 271-run chase at Dublin’s Clontarf Cricket Club Ground on Wednesday. Bangladesh rode on half-centuries from Tamim Iqbal (65) and Sabbir Rahman (65) before Mahmudullah (46) and Mushfiqur Rahim’s (45) gritty stand carried them over the finish line with 10 balls to spare and seal their first away win against the Kiwis. The win helped them climb to No. 6 on the ICC ODI rankings table.  Earlier, New Zealand suffered a ...

MNA Sports Desk: Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bowl first in the 6th and final match of the Tri-Nation Series against New Zealand at Dublin on Wednesday. There is one change for the Bangladesh side – Sunzamul Islam is replaced in the team with Nasir Hossain. Bangladesh Squad Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Mosaddek Hossain, Nasir Hossain, Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman. New Zealand Squad Luke Ronchi (wk), Tom Latham (capt), Neil Broom, Ross Taylor, Corey Anderson, Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Matt Henry, Mitchell Santner, Hamish Bennett, Jeetan ...

MNA Sports Desk: Half centuries from Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah led Bangladesh to 257 for 9 against New Zealand in the third match of the ODI Tri-Series at Clontarf Cricket Club Ground in Dublin. Earlier, New Zealand won the toss and decided to bowl first. Captain Mortaza returns, and Taskin Ahmed drops out to get Mashrafe back in the team. Bangladesh, which never beat New Zealand in an away or neutral venue in 15 matches, are very much keen to set that record straight. The Tigers’ first game against Ireland was washed out in rain, while the Kiwis ...

MNA Sports Desk: Opening batsman Martin Guptill scored an unbeaten 180 and lead New Zealand to a seven-wicket win over South Africa in the fourth ODI on Wednesday, tying the five-match series at 2-2. Guptill’s 180 from 138 balls contained 15 fours and 11 sixes and was the highest score by a New Zealand batsman against South Africa, and his unbroken partnership with Ross Taylor (66) was the highest for all wickets for New Zealand against the Proteas. In partnership, the pair guided New Zealand to their winning total of 280-3, surpassing South Africa’s 279-8 with five overs to spare. ...

MNA Sports Desk: New Zealand secured a series-leveling six-run victory in the second one-day international against South Africa on Wednesday. The visitors had been set 290 to win in Christchurch after Ross Taylor scored 102 not out to become New Zealand’s most prolific ODI century-maker in leading his side to 289 for four wickets in their 50 overs at Hagley Oval. South Africa, who won the opener of the five-match series in Hamilton on Sunday, appeared set for victory courtesy of a half century by Quinton de Kock (57) and solid partnerships through the middle order but were unable to ...

MNA Sports Desk: Australia has fallen agonizingly short of victory in the one-day international series opener against New Zealand despite a spectacular century by Marcus Stoinis. Set just 287 runs to win at the relatively small Eden Park, the tourists crumbled to 6-67 inside 19 overs, but all-rounder Stoinis (146 not out) steadied the ship brilliantly. Having already taken three wickets in his second ODI, he reached three figures off 96 balls and continued pummelling the Black Caps to all parts until number 11 Josh Hazlewood was run out for 0 at the non-striker’s end with Australia on 280. He ...

MNA Sports Desk: New Zealand completed eight victories from eight against Bangladesh, winning the second test by nine wickets at 7.11pm on an action-packed fourth day in Christchurch. The 2-0 test series victories took them to fifth in the world rankings and sat alongside 3-0 sweeps in both the one-day and Twenty20 internationals. The hosts were dismissed for 354, a lead of 65, before dissecting the visitors for 173 in their second innings. Respite came with a 51-run ninth-wicket stand off 48 balls between Kamrul Islam Rabbi and Taskin Ahmed, prompting a quorum of Bangladeshi fans to launch into a ...

MNA Sports Desk: Kane Williamson scored his 15th test century as New Zealand beat Bangladesh in a historic comeback win. New Zealand’s chase was a contrast to the manic day that it was for Bangladesh. Williamson reinforced his reputation as a fourth-innings master. He reached a hundred off only 89 balls, the fourth-fastest in the final innings in all Tests. And yet there were no pyrotechnics. The most he did was meet a few lifters in mid-air and paste them through cover though there was no room on offer, or alternatively work his wrists over them and find the midwicket ...

MNA Sports Desk: Bangladesh claimed a lead of 56 by bowling New Zealand out for 539 and swelled it to 122 runs by stumps on the fourth day, but not without casualties, the biggest of them being Imrul Kayes, who was stretchered off the field with what looked like an injury to his upper left thigh. He had kept wicket for 148.2 overs, substituting for the injured Mushfiqur Rahim and the strain of returning immediately to open the batting caught up with him while attempting a quick single in the last half hour of play. He had to dive into ...

MNA Sports Desk: New Zealand replies well after huge score of Bangladesh. Tom Latham became only the second New Zealand opener to make a century at Basin Reserve since 1931. His 119 slashed the deficit down to 303 and though he spent all but one hour of play at the batting crease no one learnt anything new about him. That, in itself, was remarkable. Latham has always been strong on the cut and the flick as 83 of his runs came behind the wicket. He succeeds by playing the ball late, and close to the body. Most of all, his ...

MNA Sports Desk: Shakib and Mushfiq makes history for Bangladesh in test cricket. A maiden double-century from Shakib Al Hasan and 159 imperial runs from Mushfiqur Rahim drove New Zealand into the ground on the second day in Wellington. Along the way, they recorded the highest partnership for Bangladesh in Test cricket (359 runs), their second highest total away from home (542 for 7) and endless smiles on the faces of fans back home staying up through the night. Bangladesh’s two most experienced players and batted 82.2 overs in each other’s company. Shakib’s 217, at a remarkable strike rate of ...

MNA Sports Desk: On one of the more miserable days at the ground Wellingtonians like to call New Zealand cricket’s HQ, Bangladesh made strongly decent fist of batting first, and battling blustery northerly winds to reach 154 for three in 40.2 overs. Another similarly resolute performance tomorrow, and Bangladesh will have, at the least, giving New Zealand plenty of food for thought. ”It was Bangladesh’s day,” seamer Neil Wagner admitted. Indeed had Mahmudullah not departed late on to a poor shot chasing a widish ball, it would have been a fine day for the tourists, considering the perceived relative merits ...

MNA Sports Desk: Today’s 27-run win at Bay Oval enabled New Zealand to complete a second short form 3-0 sweep over Bangladesh. They are still to win an international of any sort in New Zealand since 2001. Don’t expect that to change in the two tests left to wrap up this tour. It is their weakest form of the game, even though they sweep their most recent test, against England in Dhaka three months ago. Once again, in what sounds like a broken record, Bangladesh had openings on a blustery day at the Mount today. But they were tapping at ...

MNA Sports Desk: Buccaneering hitter Colin Munro became just the third New Zealander to hit an international T20 century at Bay Oval in the second match of the series against Bangladesh today. Lefthander Munro joined Brendon McCullum (twice) and Martin Guptill as New Zealanders with a century to their name. He got to his mark off just 52 balls, the equal 12th fastest to his century. Munro struck seven sixes and seven fours in his belligerent innings which propelled New Zealand to 195 for seven, their seventh best T20 total. That was too much for Bangladesh, whose chase got off ...

MNA Sports Desk: The Black Caps have beaten Bangladesh by six wickets in the first T20 international in Napier. New Zealand captain Kane Williamson top scored with 73 off 55 deliveries, his highest T20i score, as the home team reached the winning target of 142 with two overs to spare. Bangladesh won the toss and chose to bat first at McClean Park posting a score of 141 for 8 before the Black Caps finished on 143 for 4. Mahmadullah top scored for the tourists with 52 off 47 while Lockie Ferguson was the best of the Black Caps bowlers taking ...