Glorious day for cricket Kiwis as women and men notch wins

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New Zealand traditionally has been known for its rugby prowess, where the famous All-Blacks dominated the world of rugby for so many years.

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On the weekend, the world’s sports pages were splattered with headlines of the rampaging Kiwis — not the All-Blacks, but the men’s and women’s national cricket squads. And that wasn’t all.

New Zealand, a country of 5.2 million which placed 11th at the Paris Olympics with 10 golds and 20 medals overall, saw its super yacht nose out Great Britain 7-2 to capture sailing’s America’s Cup for the third consecutive time.

If anyone had mentioned that the women’s squad would lift the women’s Twenty20 World Cup, one would burst into laughter. And if anyone even talked about the men’s squad beating India in the first Test in Bengaluru would be asked to have his head examined.

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But for the first time in 36 years the Black Caps achieved the near impossible. The Kiwis confounded the world by pulling off a shocker in Dubai and Bengaluru to give the tiny country its day in glorious sunshine.

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In Dubai, the White Ferns entered the global tournament with an abysmal record of having lost their past 10 Twenty20 encounters. Few expected them to move through the Group of Death that included an Aussie team eying a third straight World Cup and powerhouse India.

But New Zealand stunned India and lost to the Aussies, but it did enough to finish in the top two with the Aussies.

Also joining India on the sidelines was England, who was pencilled in to face the mighty Australians in the final. And on to the semis where Australia, who had won six of the previous championships, was humiliated by South Africa and New Zealand surprised a hard-fighting West Indies by eight runs in an exciting contest.

So, the scene was set for a final no one had predicted with the White Ferns taking on the favoured South Africans.

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New Zealand batted first, posted 158 for five with Amelia Kerr the top-scorer with 43 off 38 balls, Brooke Halliday, 38 off 28, and Suzie Bates weighing in with 32 off 31.

Nonkululeko Mlaba was South Africa’s best bowler with two for 31.

South Africa was restricted to 126 for nine with Laura Wolvaardt the top scorer with 33 and Tazmin Brits making 17. Kerr also excelled with the ball with three wickets and Rosemary Mair also grabbed three for this unexpected victory.

It will be interesting to see if this transformation of the women’s game will continue or if the big three — Australia, England and India — will hit back.

Back in Bengaluru, India, isn’t likely to forget the humiliation that was meted out to it after the Black Caps chased down 107 to take the opener of the three-Test series by a massive eight wickets.

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The majority of the Indian fans were shocked into disbelief and so was the rest of the cricketing world after the home team with its array of superstars was dispatched to the pavilion for a meagre 46 in the first innings.

It was embarrassing as pace bowlers Matt Henry, with five for 15, and Will O’Rourke, four for 22, created the damage that saw five Indian batsmen out for ducks and that included ace scorer Virat Kohli.

The Black Caps hammered 402 thanks to a brilliant 134 by Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway’s 99.

Rohit Sharma’s squad made amends in the second knock by scoring 462 runs thanks to Sarfaraz Khan scoring a superb 150, Rishabh Pant making 99, Kohli 70 and Sharma 52.

The next stop is Pune where the second Test starts on Thursday. All in all, the weekend will go down as one of the greatest in New Zealand’s sporting annals.

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PAKISTAN BOUNCES BACK

Following that embarrassing innings clobbering by England in the first Test, Pakistan was forced to make drastic changes for the second to save face.

The home team took the colossal chance of leaving out star batsman Babar Azam and fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah, and replaced them with a couple of spinners and Kamran Ghulam for Azam.

Pakistan romped to a 152-run victory for its first Test win in over a year and its first at home in four years. Spinner Noman Khan picked 11 wickets in the game while his fellow twirler Sajid Khan grabbed the other nine as they combined to bring England to its feet.

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Batting first, Pakistan put up 366 and then restricted England to 291 for a 75-run lead. Despite holding the home team to only 221 in the second knock, the 291-run target on a turning track proved too much for England.

Ghulam proved a superb replacement for Azam as he scored 118, his first Test century, and he received good support from Saim Ayub (77) and Mohammad Rizwan (41).

England has meanwhile recalled Rehan Ahmed as part of a three-pronged spin attack for the deciding Test that starts in Rawalpindi on Thursday. Ahmed will be joined by Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir while Gus Atkinson is the sole specialist seamer. Pakistan will field the same winning team.

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