Zim 61-2, need 305 more to beat NZ in Test

Bulawayo: Zimbabwe trailed New Zealand by 305 runs with eight wickets in hand at stumps on the fourth day Friday of their one-off cricket Test at Queens Sports Club.

After New Zealand declared at 252-8 in its second innings, seamer Doug Bracewell took two wickets to reduce Zimbabwe to 61-2 at the close of play.

Bracewell first trapped opener Vusi Sibanda for 13 and Hamilton Masakadza was well caught at gully by Dean Brownlie in the last over of the day.

Earlier, Zimbabwe pace bowler Kyle Jarvis, playing only his third Test, generated good pace and swing on a rather flat wicket to claim 5-64 before New Zealand's declaration.

Continuing from 28-2 overnight, Kane Williamson (68) and captain Ross Taylor (76) strung a solid 119 for the fourth wicket to put the Black Caps in control until both fell lbw to Jarvis.

Jarvis, who removed Martin Guptill, the opener and first-innings century-maker, for a duck in the last session of day three, also dismissed Jeetan Patel (9) and Brownlie (9) before lunch on Friday.

Jarvis was ably supported by experienced spinner Ray Price, who removed BJ Watling for 3 for his second wicket of the innings.

SL post 413, Pak 35/2 at stumps on Day 2

Sharjah: Sri Lanka grabbed two cheap Pakistan wickets after grinding out a first-innings total of 413 to hold the initiative on Friday after two days of the third and final cricket Test at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Pakistan closed at 35-2, still trailing by 378 on the first innings.

Azhar Ali was unbeaten on 10 with Younus Khan yet to score.

Sri Lanka, overnight 245-2, laboured in the first two sessions to build a powerful first-innings platform on the back of Kumar Sangakkara's top score of 144 and captain Tillakaratne Dilshan's first day 92.

The visitors were bowled out for 413 an hour after tea with Mahela Jayawardene (39), Kaushal Silva (39) and Rangana Herath (39) playing supporting roles.

Offspinner Saeed Ajmal took 4-132 to lead a disciplined Pakistan attack while pacers Umar Gul (3-76) and Junaid Khan (2-94) were also impressive.

Sri Lanka, trailing 1-0 in the three-match series, then struck twice in the final hour and a half to dent Pakistan's spirits.

Left-arm seamer Chanaka Welegedara (1-11) made the initial breakthrough when he found the edge of Mohammad Hafeez's bat. Jayawardene snapped up a fine catch away to his right at second slip.

As the light faded, Herath added the wicket of Taufeeq Umar with his left-arm spin. Taufeeq (19) was slickly stumped by wicketkeeper Silva as he dragged his back foot after missing a defensive prod.

Earlier, Sri Lanka's progress had been stalled by Pakistan's varied four-man attack.

Sangakkara and fellow veteran Jayawardene stretched their overnight partnership to 84 before Pakistan struck after half an hour through Junaid.

The left-arm seamer gained an lbw verdict from umpire Simon Taufel to remove Jayawardene for 39 at 261-3.

Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews then forged a stubborn fourth-wicket stand of 39 before Abdur Rehman struck on the stroke of lunch.

Mathews, who struggled to compile 17 off 70 deliveries, edged a forward defensive prod through to wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal.

Ajmal claimed Sangakkara soon after lunch as Sri Lanka slipped to 304-5.

Sangakkara's 27th Test century finally ended six runs short of 150 when he tried to pull the off-spinner and top-edged a looping catch to Younus Khan at slip. The left-hander cracked 13 fours and two sixes off 344 balls in eight and a quarter hours.

Rookies Kaushal Silva and Kosala Kulasekara added 26 for the sixth wicket before Pakistan struck decisively through Gul and Ajmal.

Gul trapped Kulasekara lbw on 15 with a big inswinging yorker before Ajmal trapped Suraj Randiv in front for 1 to leave the Sri Lankans in peril at 331-7.

Junaid made further inroads just before tea when he broke a stand of 28 between Dhammika Prasad and Silva.

Prasad, after compiling 17 off 36 balls, sparred outside the off stump and edged to Akmal.

But Sri Lanka finally got some momentum after the tea break as Herath provided the enterprise.

The stocky left-hander swatted four fours and a six in adding 54 off 69 balls with the determined Silva.

Silva eventually fell top-edging a sweep to backward square leg off Ajmal, and the end came swiftly as Gul pegged the off stump of Welegedara.

Silva, in his second Test, struck two fours off 124 deliveries.

Herath was left unbeaten on 34 off 35 balls.

Pakistan's reply was quickly under pressure as Welegedara made up for his wild stroke by claiming Hafeez in his third over. Herath, buoyed by his forthright batting, added Taufeeq's wicket late to put Sri Lanka on top heading into day three.

NZ build lead after Vettori's five-for

Bulawayo: New Zealand led by 141 runs despite slumping to 28-2 at stumps after bowling out Zimbabwe for 313 on the third day Thursday of the one-off Test at Queens Sports Club.

Vusi Sibanda scored 93, just short of his maiden Test century. The opener played fluently for his 11 fours and a six until he mis-hit a short and wide Dean Brownlie delivery to Ross Taylor at gully before lunch.

After lunch, Malcolm Waller hit an undefeated half-century on debut to revive Zimbabwe from 193-4 in response to New Zealand's first-innings total of 426.

Waller, whose father Andy played two Tests for Zimbabwe against England in 1996, faced 133 balls and smashed nine fours and a six in an innings in which he punished anything short or wayward.

Waller and fellow debutant Regis Chakabva repaired the innings with a mature partnership of 86 runs for the sixth wicket before Chakabva was run out on 37 by a combination of Doug Bracewell and Reece Young.

"It was a good, I think we batted well as a team and it was a pity that I ran out of partners," Waller said.

"Reggie's run out was the turning point because we were going on nicely. When we came in, we were both under pressure as we had lost two big wickets and the score was not looking good, so we just talked to each other and tried to stay positive.

"It's still a good wicket to bat on; it's just starting to turn and Vettori is starting to give us problems."

Zimbabwe slipped to 193-4 after losing captain Brendan Taylor on 50 and former skipper Tatenda Taibu for 20 soon after the lunch break.

Experienced New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori ended with figures of 5-70 at the expense of the Zimbabwe tail after tea, and seamer Chris Martin grabbed two wickets to clean up and reach the 200-wicket mark in Tests.

"I have waited for this milestone for 10 months and it was a long day of work for me but it was nice," Martin said. "Also, watching Danny getting to 350 wickets was also great.

"A lead was very important. We wanted to bowl them out for less than 300 but still it was close enough. A few Zim guys got in but didn't quite take the opportunity. I think a lot depends on the first session tomorrow because with wickets in hand we can accelerate our run rate."

In New Zealand's second innings, Zimbabwe pace bowler Kyle Jarvis produced a brilliant full delivery to clean-bowl first-innings centurion Martin Guptill for a duck before spinner Ray Price trapped Brendon McCullum lbw plumb in front for 11.

Pakistan on backfoot after Sanga's ton

Sharjah: Kumar Sangakkara passed the 9,000 Test runs milestone and captain Tillakaratne Dilshan struck 92 on Thursday to put Sri Lanka in control of the third and final cricket Test against Pakistan.

Sangakkara hit a fluent, unbeaten 112 as Sri Lanka closed on 245-2 after winning the toss at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Taking only 172 innings, he beat India's Rahul Dravid by four innings to become the fastest player to total 9,000 runs when he reached 28.

The 33-year-old Sangakkara's 27th Test century spanned 263 balls and was decorated with 11 fours and two sixes.

Dilshan provided solid support after promoting himself back to the opening spot, striking 12 fours and a six off 168 deliveries, in a second-wicket stand of 173 with Sangakkara.

Fast bowler Umar Gul (1-43) and off-spinner Saeed Ajmal (1-71) were the successful Pakistan bowlers.

Gul gave the hosts a bright start when Tharanga Paranavitana on 4 edged the day's fifth delivery to second slip and Younus Khan held a high catch. Paranavitana had been dropped off the previous delivery, a sharp inside edge missed by Azhar Ali at short leg.

Pakistan and Gul thought they had removed Dilshan on 33 just before lunch but umpire Shahvir Tarapore ruled not out on a leg side catch by the wicketkeeper. TV replays indicated the ball brushed the glove.

The pair blossomed after the break. Sangakkara was the first to 50, off 112 balls, soon followed by Dilshan off 91 deliveries.

Dilshan looked set to move on to three figures as the pair guided Sri Lanka to tea at 170-1 with the skipper on 90. But Ajmal finally gave Pakistan some joy, claiming Dilshan to a slip catch when he edged a doosra.

Sangakkara, whose only real blemish was when a thick edge off Ajmal flew off wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal's shoulder, was not going to waste the opportunity for another century.

He moved into the 90s by cracking Junaid Khan for three boundaries in one over and soon brought up his landmark in grand style, waltzing down the pitch and lofting Abdur Rehman over the ropes for six.

He and long-time teammate Mahela Jayawardene consolidated Sri Lanka's advantage in the last two hours, putting on an unbroken 68 for the third wicket.

Jayawardene, trying to rebound from a lean first two Tests, was unbeaten on 32. The right-hander struck two fours off 82 balls.

Mpofu, Sibanda lead Zim fightback on day 2

Bulawayo: Chris Mpofu took 4-92 and Vusi Sibanda hit an unbeaten half-century to spearhead Zimbabwe's fightback against New Zealand on day two of the one-off Test on Wednesday.

Opener Sibanda was 53 not out to guide Zimbabwe to 82-1 at stumps at Queens Sports Club, 344 runs behind New Zealand's first-innings 426 all out.

Mpofu was instrumental in dragging New Zealand back after the tourists were 275-3 at the start of the day and on course for an ominous score.

The seamer took career-best innings figures, and Sibanda followed up with a steady start to keep Zimbabwe in the game.

New Zealand skipper Ross Taylor fell in the second over of the day without adding to his 76 overnight to kick off Zimbabwe's fightback. Dean Brownlie made 63 on Test debut for the Black Caps.

Bishoo spins West Indies to series win

• Bishoo takes five wickets for first time

• Bangladesh collapse to series defeat

DHAKA, Nov 2  - Spinner Davendra Bishoo completed his maiden five-wicket haul as Bangladesh collapsed either side of lunch on the fifth day of the second test to succumb to a 229-run defeat to the West Indies on Wednesday.

Resuming after the interval on 263 for six, Bangladesh lost their last four wickets for just 15 runs in a little over seven overs to be dismissed for 278 as the tourists secured a 1-0 victory in the two-match series.

Bishoo claimed two wickets in the first over after the break when he trapped Nasir Hossain lbw for three before Suhrawadi Shuvo offered up a catch to skipper Darren Sammy at slip without scoring a couple of deliveries later.

Naeem Islam (three) soon fell to Bishoo to give the leg-spinner his fifth wicket, before Kemar Roach bowled last man Rubel Hossain (also for three) to complete an easy victory that had appeared to be drifting away from the tourists earlier on.

West Indies were largely frustrated in the morning session before they removed home skipper Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan in a three-over span before lunch after the duo frustrated had them with a dogged 88-run fifth-wicket stand.

Sammy claimed the wicket of Shakib, who managed to spoil all of his good work by mistiming an improvised shot that took a leading edge to Shivnarine Chanderpaul at slip for 55.

Rahim soon followed when Bishoo bowled him for 69 to expose the tail and the spinner eventually finished with test-best figures of 5-90 as Bangladesh lost their last six wickets for 22 runs in less than 12 overs.

RAHIM DISAPPOINTED

"It's really good to win," Sammy told reporters.

"We left home hoping to come out here and play well. After playing and working hard, it's good. We all knew that Bangladesh would put up a fight.

"The captain, Shakib and Tamim (Iqbal) posed challenges but we believed in our bowling unit that showed that we could achieve things."

Bangladesh captain Rahim rued an inability among his batsmen to apply themselves to the task at hand.

"Our top order batsmen could not play big innings which was really important to save the match," he said.

"Getting out when we looked set is our main problem. We lack in temperament, we need to develop the habit of playing big innings and spending longer at the crease."

Chasing a world record target of 508, Bangladesh resumed on 164-3 and suffered a major blow in just the third over of the morning when the third umpire ruled that opener Tamim Iqbal was caught by Sammy off Bishoo for 83.

The on-field official was unable to determine if the fuller delivery was a bump ball but the third umpire clarified the delivery had hit the ground before the bat and gave Tamim out after he had added a single to his overnight total.

The rain-hit first test was drawn in Chittagong last week.