New Zealand-England Second Test Draw

Persistent rain and a pitch that offered the seam bowlers little assistance ensured the second Test between New Zealand and England at the Basin Reserve ended in a damp draw when the final day's play was abandoned without a ball being bowled on Monday.
Much of Sunday's fourth day was also washed out after lunch as intermittent rain showers swept across the Wellington region resulting in a near farcical situation as the umpires cleared the ground for play three times, only for the rain to return and force further delays.
New Zealand were 162 for two when match officials abandoned the day's play at 1405 local (0105 GMT) with Kane Williamson 55 not out while Ross Taylor was on 41 after the pair combined for an 81-run partnership to thwart England's bowlers on Sunday.
The hosts were still 49 runs away from making England bat again after Alastair Cook had enforced the follow on when New Zealand were bowled out for 254.
The visitors, who had been asked to bat by New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum as he tried to exploit whatever advantage the pitch would provide, batted the hosts out of the match on the first day with Nick Compton and Jonathan Trott scoring centuries.
Despite Stuart Broad's six for 51 in New Zealand's first innings, none of the pace bowlers got much assistance from the pitch throughout the match, which frustrated England bowling coach David Saker.

Brief scores
England 465 (Trott 121, Compton 100, Prior 82)
New Zealand 254 (McCullum 69, Broad 6-51) and 162 for 2 (Williamson 55*)
Result Drawn

Hashim Amla

Hashim Amla completed his 19th Test ton and along with Faf du Plessis took SA to 293/4 on Day 1 of the 2nd Test at St. George's Park on Friday.
Faf du Plessis and Graeme Smith also compiled half-centuries.
du Plessis (69 not out) and Amla combined for an unbroken fifth-wicket partnership of 102.
Amla reached the at stump unbeaten on 106 while Smith notched his 36th Test half-century shortly after lunch before being dismissed eight balls later for 54 with seven fours.
Paceman Doug Bracewell, with figures of two for 70, was the pick of New Zealand's attack.
The elegant Amla brought a slice of luck when, on 48, he was dropped in the gully by Kane Williamson off the bowling of left-arm quick Trent Boult.
Amla and Smith combined for a second-wicket stand of 92 off 20.4 overs before Smith was caught down the legside by keeper BJ Watling off the bowling of left-arm seamer Neil Wagner to leave South Africa on 121 for two.
The hosts lost their third wicket 16 runs later when Jacques Kallis (8) edged a Bracewell delivery through to Watling.
But any hopes New Zealand might have harboured of making further quick inroads into a powerful batting line-up were dashed when AB de Villiers (51) and Amla added 86 for fourth-wicket partnership.
South Africa had won the toss and elected to bat on a slowish pitch which offered up just a touch of movement for the seam bowlers.
Smith and Alviro Peterson (21) put on a 29-run opening stand but the right-handed Peterson departed when he top-edged an attempted hook shot off the bowling of Bracewell and was caught by Jeetan Patel at fine leg before the hosts took lunch on 99 for one.
New Zealand included debutant all-rounder Colin Munro in their line up.

Brief scores
South Africa 325 for 4 (Amla 106*, du Plessis 69*, Smith 54)

Pakistan Name Squad For South Africa Test

Pakistan on Friday included lanky paceman Mohammad Irfan in a 16-man squad for next month's three Tests against world number one side South Africa, but there was no place for the three Akmal brothers.
The 30-year-old Irfan, who is said to be seven foot one inch tall, impressed with his steepling bounce during Pakistan's recent tour to India where he featured in all three one-day matches and two Twenty20 internationals. But he has yet to play a Test.
The Test squad, led by Misbah-ul Haq, will open with a four-day side match at East London from January 25 before the first Test in Johannesburg from February 1.
The Pakistan Cricket Board said separate squads for two Twenty20 internationals and five one-day matches, which follow the Tests, will be announced later.
Surprisingly, none of the three Akmal brothers - Kamran, Umar and Adnan - are part of the Test squad and no selector was available to say why.
Nineteen-year-old paceman Ehsan Adil was also selected for the first time after impressing during the Junior World Cup in Australia last year. Adil has taken 56 wickets in ten first-class matches this season.
The pace squad will be led by the experienced Umar Gul, Junaid Khan and Irfan.
Uncapped left-hander Haris Sohail and Faisal Iqbal also retained their places in the squad after failing to play any match on the Sri Lanka tour while left-handed opener Nasir Jamshed, who has yet to play a Test, also made the cut.

Pakistan Test squad:

• Misbah-ul-Haq (capt)
• Mohammad Hafeez
• Nasir Jamshed
• Azhar Ali
• Asad Shafiq
• Younis Khan
• Taufeeq Umar
• Sarfraz Ahmed (wk)
• Junaid Khan
• Mohammad Irfan
• Ehsan Adil
• Saeed Ajmal
• Adbur Rehman
• Haris Sohail
• Faisal Iqbal
• Umar Gul

South Africa Win Series

South Africa ruined Ricky Ponting's farewell with an emphatic 309-run victory over Australia in the third Test on Monday to clinch the three-match series 1-0 and cement their position at the top of the ICC Test rankings.
Australia, 40-0 overnight, were bowled out for 322 in their second innings and never looked getting anywhere near the victory target of 632 which would have allowed them to leapfrog the Proteas to return to the summit of the game.
Ponting made a modest eight in his 287th and final Test innings but the day belonged to the Proteas, who inflicted a first Test defeat on Australia in 2012.
The hosts had the better of the drawn Tests in Brisbane and Adelaide but the tourists struck back with some brilliant cricket in Perth to become the first team since West Indies in the 1980s and 1990s to win consecutive series Down Under.
Hashim Amla is the Man of the Match. Michael Clarke is the Man of the Series.

Brief scores
South Africa 225 (du Plessis 78*) and 569 (Amla 196, de Villiers 169, Smith 84, Starc 6-154)
Australia 163 (Wade 68, Steyn 4-40) and 322 (Starc 68*, Cowan 53, Steyn 3-72, Peterson 3-127)
Result South Africa won by 309 runs
MOM Hashim Amla (South Africa)
Man of the series Michael Clarke (Australia)

England's 2nd Tour Game Venue Shifted

The second warm-up game of the England on their forthcoming tour to India has been shifted from the Mumbai Cricket Association's Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) ground to D Y Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai.
Announcing this at a media conference, MCA president Ravi Savant said, "We met BCCI president N Srinivasan this morning and he has agreed to our request to shift the second warm-up game of England from BKC to DY Patil stadium."
The shifting of the match scheduled from November 3-5 was necessitated as there were a lot of security issues relating to MCA's BKC ground, said Savant.
This is one area where lot of people from the suburbs and from in and around Navi Mumbai can come and see the England team in action which otherwise they won't be able to do, he said.
The BCCI president was magnanimous enough to accede to our request, Savant added.
England are to reach Mumbai on October 29 and will prepare for the four-Test series -- considered a grudge rubber by India after their 0-4 rout in the last away series -- by playing three warm-up tour games -- two in Mumbai and the third in Ahmedabad, venue of the opening match of the rubber.
England's tour opener is scheduled from October 30 to November 1 at Brabourne Stadium and the third game is to be held on a ground, just outside the Sardar Patel Stadium at Motera from November 8-11.
The opening Test is scheduled at the Motera main stadium from November 15-19 with the subsequent Tests scheduled in Mumbai (November 23-27), Kolkata (December 5-9) and Nagpur (December 13-17).
England would play two T20 Internationals against India on December 20 (Pune) and December 22 (Mumbai) prior to departing home for the Christmas and New Year break, before returning to play in a five-match ODI series begins from 11 January 2013 at Rajkot.