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Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKane Williamson runs out Josh Hazlewood to win the game•Getty Images

Kane Williamson held his nerve, ran the last man out with a direct hit and stopped Marcus Stoinis seven runs short of pulling off the most miraculous of Australian chases in an Eden Park ODI.Stoinis’ unbeaten 146 turned a comfortable New Zealand victory into an utterly thrilling encounter. And yet he was only on the tour because the first-choice allrounder Mitchell Marsh was resting a shoulder problem. Stoinis joined a motley assortment of other second-choice players standing in for the captain Steven Smith, his deputy David Warner and the wicketkeeper Matthew Wade among others, but the innings he conjured was among the finest played for Australia in recent memory, showing equal parts composure and brutality. Stoinis was the first from his country to wallop a century and pick up three or more wickets in the same match.The visitors had slid as far as 54 for 5 when Stoinis arrived at the crease, and he took his time in the company of James Faulkner before taking the game on with immense courage and power even as Australia’s wickets started to run out. His tally of 11 sixes, most hit straight or in the arc between midwicket and mid-on, was the highest ever in an ODI at Eden Park. As a breakout performance it recalled Andrew Symonds against Pakistan at the 2003 World Cup – Stoinis and Australia will hope so.The arrival of last man Josh Hazlewood pushed Stoinis into a corner from which he could only attack, and he piled up 54 runs in four overs without the No. 11 ever having to take strike. Ultimately it was the search for a single that ended things, as Williamson struck with an underarm from short mid-on to dismiss Hazlewood when only seven runs were required from 19 balls – a fair measure of how destructively Stoinis had played.Memorable runs followed up a fine spell with the ball from Stoinis, who bowled his 10 overs straight through the middle of the innings as the Australians held New Zealand to a manageable 286. While numerous chances went down, 29 extras conceded, and a Hazlewood one-hander on the boundary became six when the paceman’s foot brushed the rope, regular wickets throughout prevented the hosts from creating the sort of momentum required to pass 300.Marcus Stoinis’ 146 not out was the second highest-score ever made by a batsman at No. 7•Getty Images

In his second ODI appearance, Stoinis prospered with his muscular medium-fast bowling, beating Williamson and Martin Guptill for pace in the air and off the wicket on his way to a three-wicket haul. Travis Head was also handy with his part-time offspin, coaxing Ross Taylor to drag on onto the stumps.Guptill had appeared to be the New Zealand’s best hope of a big score before he fell to Stoinis, and it took an innings of impressive composure from Neil Broom to take them beyond 250. Eventually, his 73 off 75 balls proved just about enough.Australia had been forced into a hurried reshuffle on match morning, with Finch taking over leadership from an injured Wade after Smith and Warner both missed the tour. The resultant changes to the Australian top order left them vulnerable to intelligent New Zealand bowling, and the early overs saw a steady procession of wickets that suggested this would not be a close encounter.Finch and Head were out trying to assert themselves early on, via a pull to square leg and an upper cut to third man. Shaun Marsh’s return to Australian colours ahead of the India tour ended with dance down the wicket to Mitchell Santner and a comfortable stumping for Tom Latham. Either side of his dismissal, Peter Handscomb and Glenn Maxwell both edged length deliveries behind, and when the debutant Sam Heazlett also offered up an edge, the score fell to 67 for 6 and New Zealand looked sure winners.What followed reflected tremendous credit on Stoinis, but also on how Twenty20 has influenced the thinking of batsmen around the world. Stoinis and Faulkner were happy to let the required rate blow out to near 10 an over, getting themselves in and working out the vagaries of Eden Park’s drop-in pitch and short boundaries before accelerating.Pat Cummins played his part by striking the ball cleanly to help Stoinis bring the asking rate down, before Santner earned another stumping with his slower pace, flight and spin. Mitchell Starc was unable to contain himself when presented with Santner’s last delivery and was caught on the midwicket boundary, before Stoinis caught fire with a barrage of sixes to take Australia so close to a win they had no right to expect for most of the afternoon.Tom Latham, with two stumpings and three catches, equalled the New Zealand record for most dismissals by a wicketkeeper•Getty Images

Wade had been ruled out due to a back complaint he reported on match eve. His absence meant Handscomb took the gloves, and also that the young Queensland batsman Heazlett made his debut in the middle order. Heazlett was included in the squad without having played a single domestic limited-overs match for his state and was listed to bat at No. 7.There was next to no swing for Starc with the new ball after Finch sent New Zealand in to bat, and it was a short ball from the left-armer that brushed Tom Latham’s glove to offer Handscomb a catch behind the wicket. Guptill and Williamson appeared to be setting a sound platform before the captain squeezed a Stoinis delivery off bat and pad to backward point, and a similarly promising stand between Guptill and Taylor ended when the latter fell to Head.Stoinis then found a way past Guptill and coaxed Colin Munro to pop a catch to mid-on, leaving Broom and James Neesham with the salvage job. Neesham played with particular verve and was looking to accelerate further when he was well held by Head on the midwicket boundary for 48.Santner and Tim Southee did not last long, and Broom eventually miscued a length ball from Faulkner to long-on as the overs ticked down. Trent Boult connected with a couple of meaty blows, which in the final analysis gave Williamson’s men just enough breathing room to contain the Stoinis Hurricane.

Big Picture

After losing the ODI series, a journalist asked Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur what the first thought on his mind was. “When is our flight?” replied Arthur instantly. That’s the kind of gallows humour prevailing in New Zealand among the Pakistan camp. Nearly a month-long tour has turned into a miserable campaign, with Pakistan now having lost 13 consecutive completed international matches against New Zealand.This gloomy tour to New Zealand has undone all the hard work Pakistan have done over the last six months. They were blown away in the ODI series, and, with a change of format, the world No. 2 T20I side was dismantled in the opening game. They have a chance to keep the series alive and head into the third and final game with some pride, and something worth playing for. They have already tried every player on the tour barring Ahmed Shehzad – given ample time to adjust to the conditions, to no avail.New Zealand, meanwhile, have continued their ruthless domination and must be overflowing with confidence given their form this season. It’s hard to pick a flaw in this impossibly dynamic side, which has every base covered. They have also nailed the rotation policy so far. Their bench strength has been superb, and coach Mike Hesson’s aims of improving the depth in the New Zealand squad are being quickly realised. Pakistan will attest to that.

Form guide

New Zealand WWWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan LWWWW

In the spotlight

Ish Sodhi is the world’s top-ranked T20 bowler, but can’t seem to get a game for New Zealand in any of the longer formats. That may frustrate him, but so would his bowling in the first T20I. The legspinner failed to cash in as Pakistan fell for 105, conceding 25 in four overs and ending up wicketless. There have been calls within New Zealand to give Sodhi more game time across formats. With stellar performances in the next two T20Is, those calls will only grow louder.Former PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan, who had appointed Sarfraz Ahmed captain, has hinted that the management needs to assess if the captain is being overburdened. He has looked particularly miserable on what has come to look like a long, arduous tour. He has tinkered with the combination, batted first and bowled first, and made every possible move to spur Pakistan on to their first win on the tour. But his own performance with the bat as well as the gloves has been uninspiring and, while that remains the case, he’s unlikely to spur the team on successfully. He will be intelligent enough to recognise that.

Team news

Kane Williamson is likely to return after sitting out the first game with a side strain. Trent Boult will come back into the side too, while it is Tim Southee’s turn to have a rest.New Zealand (probable): 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Colin Munro, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Glenn Phillips (wk), 5 Tom Bruce, 6 Ross Taylor, 7 Colin de Grandhomme, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Ben Wheeler/Seth Rance, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Ish SodhiPakistan played a somewhat surprise XI in the opening game, leaving out two experienced batsmen in Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez. The move didn’t work out and there will be another reshuffle, with Shehzad expected to return.Pakistan (probable): 1 Ahmed Shehzad, 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Haris Sohail, 5 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 6 Shadab Khan, 7 Aamer Yamin, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Mohammad Nawaz, 10 Hasan Ali/Rumman Raees, 11 Mohammad Amir

Pitch and conditions

Eden Park is a small ground, where even mis-hits can comfortably clear the rope. The pitch may offer assistance to the spin bowlers, but batsmen will fancy their chances after a low-scoring game in Wellington. Rain is not expected to play a part.

Stats and trivia

• Martin Guptill needs 72 runs to become only the second batsman to make 2000 T20I runs
• Pakistan’s last win against New Zealand came at Eden Park, in January 2016, in a T20I. New Zealand have won 13 completed matches in a row against Pakistan since then

Quotes

“Don’t take anything away from the West Indies, I think we played really well against them. Pakistan were obviously whitewashed in the one-dayers, but they were very competitive all the way through.”

“You come here after two three years and it becomes difficult sometimes to adjust early on. But we should admit that we are not playing the way we should be playing.”

Jemimah Rodrigues sports a smile after the practice match•ESPNcricinfo/Annesha Ghosh

A 98-run stand between half-centurion Mithali Raj and Jemimah Rodrigues, followed by an inspired effort by their bowling and fielding units, helped India complete a 54-run win in the fifth T20I and seal a first-ever away-series double. Having won the ODI series 2-1, India clinched the T20I series 3-1, bowling South Africa out for 112 in 18 overs in Cape Town.Having put India in, Marizanne Kapp removed Smriti Mandhana inside the Powerplay. Mandhana’s opening partner Raj, however, pressed on to her third half-century – a 50-ball 62 studded with short-arm pulls, sweeps and cuts that brought her eight fours and three sixes. Keeping her company for 11.3 overs was the 17-year-old Jemimah Rodrigues, whose promotion to No. 3 – which has otherwise been the slot earmarked for captain Harmanpreet Kaur in this series – paid off.Having been reprieved on 15 by wicketkeeper Lizelle Lee, Rodrigues waltzed to a 34-ball 44. Raj and Rodrigues then fell in successive overs, to Shabnim Ismail and Ayabonga Khaka respectively. India were 134 for 4, with 3.1 overs left. Harmanpreet partnered Veda Krishnamurthy in a brisk 32-run stand, reeling off 27 off 17 balls courtesy a four and two massive sixes that sailed into the leg-side stands. Krishnamurthy pinched eight off the six balls she faced, before being run-out off the final ball of the innings as India finished on 166 for 4.India’s momentum, gathered through the closing overs of their innings, was kept going by their quick-bowling troika of Pooja Vastrakar, Shikha Pandey and Rumeli Dhar, who reduced the hosts to 22 for 3 inside six overs. While Vastrakar opened with a maiden over, Dhar accounted for both openers – Dane van Niekerk her first wicket upon returning to international cricket after a six-year hiatus.Pandey subsequently sent back Sune Luus, followed by the wickets of Mignon du Preez and Nadine de Klerk in the space of three balls in the ninth over. Half the South African line-up had been sniped out for 44. Chloe Tryon tried resuscitating the chase, hitting two sixes, but could not go beyond a 17-ball 25 as she holed out off Rajeshwari Gayakwad. Harmanpreet completed a regulation catch at long-off and blew a kiss as a follow-up act.That three of South Africa’s partnerships ended in the twenties, the highest being a seventh-wicket stand of 29 between Shabnim Ismail and Marizanne Kapp, underlined their inability to deal with the lack of pace from the Indian attack, aided by some agile fielding. While Harmanpreet and Mandhana prevented at least three fours by throwing themselves around near the rope, Rodrigues pulled off a stunner at the deep-square leg boundary to send back Kapp for a 21-ball 27. Rodriguez’s two-handed back-arch-and-leap act gave Dhar her third wicket before Gayakwad took out the tail; both finished with identical returns of 3 for 26, though Gayakwad bowled one over less.

Yorkshire and their rugby league counterparts, Leeds Rhinos, have appealed to Leeds City Council to give the go-ahead to their Headingley development next month, in order for the clubs to benefit from the staging of the World Cup in 2019 and the Rugby League World Cup two years later.The new stand, on the rugby side of the ground, would serve both sports and is seen as essential in raising Headingley to a necessary standard to attract the sort of fixtures that will make the ground financially viable.A positive outcome in a council planning committee meeting on January 12 is deemed essential as Yorkshire press for the same level of political support in Leeds as has been displayed by other major cities in the UK including Cardiff, where backing from the Welsh Assembly has been integral to the ground’s international status, Birmingham and Manchester.Plans to replace the decrepit rugby stand, part of which is now condemned for safety reasons, were baulked when planning officers rejected two linked residential planning applications in the Leeds suburbs of Weetwood and Tingley, on land owned by Leeds Rhinos, which were contributing essential funds to the overall cost of delivering the stadium project.After emergency discussions with council chiefs, that application has now been withdrawn, pending further discussions with both the council and the community. Rhinos representatives did not help themselves when they failed to attend a community meeting after receiving confidential council advice that they would face a hostile reception.Leeds Council’s own calculations are that they need 70,000 new homes in the city by 2028.Both Yorkshire and Leeds Rugby are still hopeful that a solution to the funding requirements of the Headingley scheme can be found.Yorkshire’s chief executive, Mark Arthur, said: “It is essential that a solution is found in order to deliver international cricket to Leeds beyond 2019, and we are working tirelessly with Leeds City Council and Leeds Rhinos to that end.”The new stand is phase two of a six-stage plan known, with characteristic Yorkshire , as the Headingley Masterplan. The stand will incorporate a three-tiered seating area, which will accommodate 5060 seats, enhanced corporate facilities and a new media area.Leeds Rugby’s chief executive Gary Hetherington said: “To deliver the £39m Headingley Carnegie Stadium redevelopment, which everyone wants, we have to find a solution to the funding issue.”

Faf du Plessis is comfortable with the selection process in South African cricket and believes transformation targets are not stopping them from fielding their best teams. The South Africa Test captain was responding to fresh criticism by Graeme Pollock of a system that requires the national side to field a minimum average of six players of colour (including two black Africans) over the course of a season.Speaking at an event in London earlier this month, Pollock said South Africa would become a “middle of the road” Test team in future if the transformation policy remained in place. Du Plessis said he had not heard “the context in which Pollock was speaking” so it would be “unfair” to respond to Pollock personally but said that the team understood the policy.”We as a team understand what we need to do and how we need to take the country forward,” he said. “We get on with our business as usual. We play the best team and we try and win every game we play.”In 2016 the South African government banned four major sports – cricket, rugby, athletics and netball – from bidding for or hosting international events for not having done enough in terms of transformation. Each sport signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the sports ministry, the terms of which remain private. CSA has, however, made public the targets they decided to implement at national level and after exceeding them in the 2016-17 summer the ban was lifted.”The major thing is the problem with the politics and interference with the selection of players,” Pollock had originally said. “It’s affecting the performance of the side – they don’t put the 11 best players on the field. It’s never going to change. As South Africans, we’ve got to accept that South Africa are going to be middle of the road in their future Test cricket.”He took issue with the domestic set-up, where targets are applicable per match and require each franchise and provincial team to field six players of colour including three black Africans. Pollock said this created an inherently weak structure which produced below-par cricketers of all races.”You are going to pick a guy like Heino Kuhn, the opening batsman, who got a couple of hundreds in first-class cricket. He’s not good enough to play Test cricket. The guys are playing in a bad standard of first-class cricket in South Africa because of the politics and interference in selection.”A week after Pollock’s comments were first published, however, his spokesperson Basil O’Hagan issued a statement which claimed the quotes were “totally misconstrued”, issued an apology and said Pollock is in favour of transformation.”Graeme extends his sincerest apologies to CSA Board and the South African cricketing public for the manner in which his comments at recent function in London were totally misconstrued. Graeme fully supports the endeavours of the transformation process,” O’Hagan said.When asked by ESPNcricinfo which part of Pollock’s original statement was misconstrued, O’Hagan said he would not respond to every paragraph of the original article but called it “incorrect” as a whole. O’Hagan also said Pollock “maintains transformation is the way to correct decades of oppression of black South Africans and marginalisation of black cricketers.”The clarification did not prevent strong criticism from former Test player and current Cobras coach Ashwell Prince in the where Prince detailed his own struggles across a two-decade long career.”Pollock’s comments most definitely struck a nerve. Not just with myself, but it seems the overwhelming majority of South Africans. Quite frankly, as a former Protea, one has reached the point where you simply just cannot sit back and allow people with these kind of mindsets to keep feeding the world this kind of rubbish and just let it be,” Prince said.”People who were disadvantaged under the previous political regime simply have to be given opportunities which in the past were reserved for a privileged minority.”South Africa will have five players of colour in their side for the third Test against England at The Oval with Kagiso Rabada’s return following his suspension. They fielded four at Trent Bridge with JP Duminy dropped, but with the targets being assessed over a whole season whether they have been met or not for 2017-18 will not be known until after the home summer against Bangladesh, India and Australia.

Peter Della Penna

Mahuru Dai receives one demerit point

Papua New Guinea allrounder Mahuru Dai has received an official warning and one demerit point for violating Article 2.1.8 of the ICC code of conduct, which relates to “abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an international match”.
The incident occurred during PNG’s revised chase of 170, after Dai was caught by the substitute fielder off Rohan Mustafa. Dai admitted the offence, and accepted the sanction.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) kicked off their World Cup Qualifiers campaign on a very positive note, easing past Papua New Guinea (PNG) in a rain-hit encounter in Harare. PNG’s target was revised from 222 to 170 from 28 after a rain break, and they didn’t get close, folding for 113. Seamer Mohammad Naveed contributed much to this slide, taking career-best ODI figures of 5 for 28.At one point PNG looked in danger of missing out on triple digits, falling to 70 for 8; none of their top five got past 12, and the innings’ top score was 24 from No. 6 Charles Amini who was eventually run out.It was PNG who chose to chase, and UAE looked like there were keen to make them pay for this decision from the outset. Their openers Rohan Mustafa and Ashfaq Ahmed put on 91 at a brisk pace, but none could kick on to big hundreds. PNG enjoyed some relief after Ashfaq fell for 50 off 56, taking two more quick wickets.The UAE middle order could not quite get going thereafter, and Mustafa was kept in check too – he eventually fell five short of a hundred, having played out 136 balls. PNG must have felt relieved to have only 222 to chase, given UAE’s start. However, rain and Naveed intervened and spoiled those plans.

Match facts

March 4-8, 2017
Start time 0930 local (0400 GMT)4:26

Chappell: Matter of how long Australia can maintain confidence

Big Picture

It was no surprise that a spinner took 12 wickets and was Man of the Match in the first Test in Pune. Nor was it a surprise that the winning captain scored the only hundred of the match. It was not even particularly surprising that the Test was over in two and a half days. What was surprising – flabbergasting, even – was that the spinner was not R Ashwin or Ravindra Jadeja but Steve O’Keefe, the captain was not Virat Kohli but Steven Smith, and the team with a 1-0 lead after less than three days of play in this series was not India but Australia.”The pressure was off us, wasn’t it? Everyone wrote us off and expected India to win 4-0. That can’t happen anymore.” Never a truer word was spoken than those from Smith after the Pune Test. But if it was true that the pressure was off Australia in that match, it is no longer the case in Bengaluru, where the expectations on Australia will be high. Not only did they beat India in Pune, they dominated in all aspects of the game. They more than doubled India’s total in each innings, the spinners were more effective, their catching was sharper, even their use of the DRS was more assured.Pressure was on Kohli’s mind after the match, too. “How badly we batted in the first innings is the main reason why we couldn’t get back into the game,” he said. “We put ourselves under a lot of pressure.” The intensity will only increase in Bengaluru, where Australia are in the unexpected position of being able to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by the halfway point of the series. Kohli’s men must find a way to turn around their fortunes quickly, or else an ignominious fate awaits them.So, was Pune an aberration? What surprises will Bengaluru have in store? It is the only venue in this series that has hosted Test cricket before, and it is a ground at which past Australia teams have enjoyed success. Much speculation has surrounded the nature of the pitch at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in the lead-up to the match, especially given Australia’s triumph on the dry, spinning surface in the first Test. What will be in it? Sharp spin? Reverse swing? Piles of runs? It should be fun finding out.

Form guide

India: LWWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Australia: WWWWW
1:16

Will India bounce back?

In the spotlight

Last time India hosted Australia in a Bengaluru Test, back in 2010, Cheteshwar Pujara made his debut. On Australia’s next Test tour of India, Pujara destroyed the visitors in Hyderabad with 204 and a monstrous triple-century partnership with M Vijay. And he began this home season well, with three straight half-centuries against New Zealand and then hundreds in the next three Tests against New Zealand and England. But since then, Pujara’s season has quietened down a little, and India would desperately love for their No. 3 to return to his best in this match, at the venue where his Test career began against this same opposition.Steve O’Keefe was Man of the Match in Pune for his twin 6 for 35s, but on a very difficult batting pitch Steven Smith stood head and shoulders above any other batsman with his 109. Only two Australians had previously made second-innings hundreds in Tests in India: Mark Taylor and Damien Martyn. Not only that but Smith’s effort lifted him into truly elite company on the ICC’s all-time batting rankings; only five batsmen have ever achieved ratings points higher than Smith’s current level: Don Bradman, Len Hutton, Jack Hobbs, Ricky Ponting and Peter May. He will enter the Bengaluru Test with a batting average of 60.34 – not bad for a bloke who started as a legspinner batting at No.8.

Team news

Hardik Pandya has a shoulder niggle and is not in contention, but the remainder of India’s squad is available for this Test. It remains to be seen whether the selectors give the same XI another chance after their disappointing performance in Pune.India (possible) 1 KL Rahul, 2 M Vijay, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Wriddiman Saha (wk), 7 R Ashwin, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 Jayant Yadav, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Umesh Yadav.Australia announced an unchanged XI on the eve of the second Test, retaining Mitchell Marsh, whose bowling services were not exploited in Pune.Australia 1 David Warner, 2 Matt Renshaw, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Shaun Marsh, 5 Peter Handscomb, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Steve O’Keefe, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Josh Hazlewood.

Pitch and conditions

There has been so much discussion and speculation about the pitch that India’s coach, Anil Kumble, got fed up during his press conference in the lead-up to the Test. “Can we move on? It’s only 22 yards, it won’t be different here,” he said. Both teams expect a better batting surface than in Pune, but it will still be dry and should take plenty of turn.

Stats and trivia

• Smith needs 112 more runs to reach 5000 in Tests. Should he do it in his first innings in Bengaluru, he will be the equal third-fastest to the milestone alongside Garry Sobers, Sunil Gavaskar, Viv Richards and Matthew Hayden, and behind only Don Bradman and Jack Hobbs.
• India have beaten Australia only once at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, while Australia have won there twice and the teams have played out two draws. India’s win, though, did come in the most recent of those five Tests, in 2010.

Quotes

“The way we played last week was such a positive sign. It was a difficult wicket and we showed them we can compete in those conditions. And more importantly, we probably showed ourselves as well.”

Hampshire 119 for 2 beat Glamorgan 118 for 6 by eight wicketsMason Crane marked his maiden England Test call-up with three wickets as Hampshire closed the gap on Glamorgan at the top of the NatWest T20 Blast South Group.Legspinner Crane was picked for the Test squad to face the West Indies later this month before leaving Glamorgan in a twist. James Vince then completed the thrashing with his 21st T20 fifty to ease Hampshire to an eight-wicket victory.Glamorgan won the toss and chose to bat on a slow pitch which had seen the Western Storm struggled to 70 in their Kia Super League defeat to Southern Vipers earlier in the day.Liam Dawson put aside his disappointment of failing to return to the England fold by bowling Aneurin Donald third ball of the match. And the left-arm spinner bagged the huge wicket of danger man Colin Ingram, who had smacked Gareth Berg over the fence, in the following over as Chris Wood held on at long-on.The visitors were struggling as they only reached 34 in the Powerplay and it was only going to get worse as Crane then came into the attack and proved why he has been called upon by the England selectors.The 20-year-old showed off his incredible googly to bowl opener Nicholas Selman to further pin Glamorgan.Crane then dragged Chris Cooke down the track to sky a top-edge to Gareth Berg at cover before snatching a third scalp a ball later on his dream day by having former South Africa Test star Jacques Rudolph stumped.The home grown leg-spinner ending with figures of 3 for 21, to boast a combined analysis of 5 for 36 with spin twin Dawson. Another Hampshire academy graduate, keeper Calvin Dickinson, again impressed with his quick hands on debut to stump Craig Meschede off the wily Shahid Afridi – leaving the visitors 65 for 6.Pakistan legend Afridi chalked up returns of 1 for 16 – although a dropped caught-and-bowled tainted his evening slightly.The Welsh side were heading for a sub-100 total before Andrew Salter crashed his highest T20 score of 37 – which included a huge six over long on – to help his side score 16 from the final over and set Hampshire 119 to win.Isle of Wight-raised Dickinson opened on his first professional appearance but departed in the first over as he was lbw to Ingram, while attempting a hoicked sweep.But from there Vince and Tom Alsop looked in fantastic nick pummelling the ball to all angles of the Ageas Bowl in a 68-run stand for the second wicket.Alsop in particular punched back-to-back powerful on-drives straight down the track.But after reaching 28 he picked out Marchant de Lange off Ingram on the long-on boundary to end an entertaining knock.At the other end, skipper Vince was caressing the ball through holes in the field with pure guile and appeared unstoppable as he reached a 32-ball fifty – eventually reaching an unbeaten 60.At the half way point Hampshire only required 26 – and they reached the target with 37 balls to spare to go second and within a point of Glamorgan.

Thilanga Sumathipala, Sri Lanka Cricket’s president, has vowed to support Pakistan in their bid to host top-flight cricket on a regular basis. He was speaking at a media conference in Lahore, during Sri Lanka’s short visit for the third T20I.”Since we have experienced more than 30 years of war, we know what isolation means,” Sumathipala said. “We have gone through more than 30 years of war in Sri Lanka, but Pakistan has never cancelled a single game of cricket which we agreed to play against each other in Sri Lanka.”There are various [types of] people. We appeal to them to keep children, women, religious places and sports aside. Leave us alone, let us play our game of cricket in peace and harmony. We want to enjoy the game of cricket and give everyone opportunities and a chance to share our happiness in the game.”Since the attack on the Sri Lankan team nearly nine years ago, Pakistan have been trying to convince the world to visit, but had not managed to convince teams to tour until 2015, when Zimbabwe visited for a short series.But the first real sign of cricket returning on a more regular basis was taken earlier this year when a number of international cricketers featured in the final of the Pakistan Super League. Then, in September, Pakistan hosted a World XI, coached by Andy Flower and captained by Faf du Plessis, for a three-match series. Sri Lanka’s short trip is the latest step in the PCB’s efforts to convince international sides to tour the country.”Good or bad, Pakistan cricket and the government of Pakistan have stood by Sri Lanka,” Sumathipala said. “This is not a matter of just government. As you all understand, since the last incident was against Sri Lanka, the sentiments were quite different. We thought we should take the initiative and support Pakistan cricket.”If Pakistan is weak in cricket, Asian cricket will be weaker and that will make world cricket weaker and weaker. Your strength is our strength and it’s our responsibility to look after each other. We strongly believe in that.”The one-off match in Lahore was played under extraordinary security arrangements, with thousands of armed policemen deployed between the stadium and team hotel. The arrangements were similar to the security protocol followed for a presidential visit.”The arrangements made for the team and spectators are very much satisfactory,” Sumathipala said. “You deserve regular good cricket being played in your country. It is such a wonderful country that has produced so many talented cricketers. We don’t want anyone to fear and leave Pakistan away from international cricket. We encourage Asian regions to play more games in Lahore and in other [Pakistan] cities if possible one day.”As far as SLC is concerned, we are happy and privileged to be here to support Pakistan cricket. We believe in, especially in the Asian region, Pakistan is a very important, pivotal partner, a brother that we can’t allow to be left alone.”

Twenty-one Pakistan players, including Saeed Ajmal and Imran Khan, and commentator Aamer Sohail found themselves in a pay dispute with the Afro T20 Cricket League organisers and decided to return home without completing the tournament. The players’ return tickets were also cancelled at one point but according to Ajmal, their flights were rebooked for December 21 after talks with the Uganda Cricket Association (UCA).The Afro T20 Cricket League, featuring eight teams, is supported by the UCA and was approved by the ICC, according to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The tournament started on December 17 and was scheduled to run until January 1. However, a few days into the tournament, the organisers were not releasing payments for players. The league had reportedly set USD $50,000 for the winning team with each player having a contractual agreement. Ajmal said he got multiple verbal assurances from the organisers who later flew to Dubai with yet another promise that they were going to arrange the payments and return.”The organiser wasn’t paying us and we insisted for our payments as per the contractural agreement,” Ajmal told ESPNcricinfo. “But he deserted us with a promise that he is going to Dubai to arrange payments and will return but he hasn’t and we decided to return in protest. Our return tickets were blocked and we had informed Uganda Cricket Association and with some pressure we managed to rebook our return flight for December 21. But we are perfectly fine in Uganda, we are in touch with the Pakistan consulate as well and things are under control.”The PCB issued a press release saying the ICC had been in touch with the board about the availability of the players for the league, and things were firmed up by the PCB on that basis. The board said it is looking into the matter and will decide how to act once the facts are established, while also stating that it had been up to the players to negotiate their terms with the organisers.*”PCB received applications from players to participate in the Afro T20 League being played in Uganda. Upon inquiring of the bonafides of this League from ICC, we were advised by the ICC that Afro T20 League has been approved by them and that it is been played under the umbrella of Uganda Cricket Association (UCA). The ICC sent us a list of players which were provided to the ICC by the League organisers and asked us to allow them to take part in the tournament. Upon receiving confirmation from ICC, PCB issued NOCs to all Pakistani players who were mentioned in the approved list.”PCB is currently looking into the incident which has taken place in Uganda during the Afro T20 League and once complete information is received, further course of action will be advised.”It may be mentioned that it is the responsibility of the players to negotiate the terms of their engagement and not that of the PCB whose role is confined to the issuance of NOCs on the condition that the players are not required for PCB duty at home or abroad.”*