New Zealand seal first away Test series win against England since 1999
Birmingham, Jun 13: England endured its first Test series defeat at home since 2014 after meekly surrendering to New Zealand in less than an hour of play on the fourth day of the second Test at Edgbaston on Sunday.
The result was almost a certainty when the teams arrived at the ground after the home side's batting collapse a day earlier all but assured the touring side of a decisive victory. And it did not take long to confirm the result.
Resuming on 122-9, England lost its final wicket to the very first ball of the morning when Olly Stone poked Trent Boult timidly to wicketkeeper Tom Blundell.
That left a paltry target of 38 to take the two-match series 1-0 and the Black Caps became the first away side since Sri Lanka seven years ago to win in England with an eight-wicket victory.
Stuart Broad and Stone took a wicket apiece as Devon Conway nicked behind and Will Young dragged down his own stumps, but there was little more than ironic cheering from the stands.
Tom Latham, captaining what was a weakened side in the absence of top-ranked batsman Kane Williamson, levelled the scores by nudging Mark Wood for four and won it with a steer to the third-man boundary. He finished 23 not out, with Ross Taylor not facing a ball at the non-striker's end.
In total there had been just under an hour of play, with a total of 11 overs, which meant that full refunds were due for those in attendance.
This is New Zealand’s third win in 18 Test series in England and first after their historic wins in 1986 and 1999.
And there it is ??
— Spark Sport (@sparknzsport) June 13, 2021
New Zealand have their first Test series win in England after 22 years! Oh, and perhaps a bit of CWC19 Finals payback ?
Next stop, the WTC Final v India! ?? ??#ENGvNZ pic.twitter.com/aWqP4AaPWl
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Champions Trophy opening on Feb 16 or 17; PCB hopeful Rohit Sharma will be there
Lahore, Jan 15 (PTI): The opening ceremony of the Champions Trophy will be held either on February 16 or 17 and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is confident that India captain Rohit Sharma will be in attendance at the event.
The PCB source also said that it is awaiting communication from the ICC on the schedule of the customary captains' photo-shoot and the pre-event press conference.
The eight-team tournament will get underway on February 19 in Karachi. However, India will play all their matches in Dubai, starting with the clash against Bangladesh on February 20, after refusing to travel to Pakistan owing to security concerns.
The source said PCB has procured all relevant clearances from its government to promptly issue visas to all captains, players and team officials who will come here for pre-tournament events.
"This obviously includes Rohit or any other Indian team player or official or board official," he added.
Another source confirmed to PTI that the PCB has made it clear to the ICC that the opening ceremony, featuring all teams and their captains, will take place in Pakistan.
"This is in line with the usual protocols and since the opening match is on 19th the opening ceremony can be expected either on the 16th or 17th," the source added.
He said the schedule of the opening ceremony would depend on the warm-up matches list.
The source said that recently three Indian nationals, who were a part of the ICC delegation which came to Pakistan, were promptly issued visas once the world body sent their names to the PCB.
