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Pakistan endured a day of frustration at the MCG, as light but persistent rain twice prevented them from pressing on with the game just when they seemed perfectly placed to do so.Only 50.3 overs were possible on a day that first featured a three-hour break in play, from just before lunch, and then an early finish 20 minutes before the scheduled close. It was the first break, ten minutes before lunch, when the drizzle was at its mildest, which seemed to visibly annoy Pakistan’s coach Mickey Arthur the most.Pakistan had negotiated an extended morning session until then without losing a wicket. Australia were on the verge of the second new ball at the time, though the decision to take it was made trickier by the risk of it getting wet on the outfield.Australia captain Steven Smith was in communication with umpire Ian Gould during this little period and, though there is no suggestion the chat led to the decision to take an early break, it did halt the momentum Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq had been building up.The second break, which ended play, came just as Mohammad Amir had helped take away the momentum Australia had built with the new ball, adding 42 quick runs with Azhar.”Obviously when the team is doing really good and something like this, the rain comes out, it is frustrating because we were going really well,” Wahab Riaz said. “We were scoring runs and it was a time to score runs.”Anything which doesn’t go well for the Pakistan team [Arthur] does get frustrated obviously because he is the coach. But he has said nothing to me about it.”With the forecast not looking brighter for the remainder of this Test, the chance for Pakistan to level the series is also dwindling. Pakistan will take their cue in the morning from the captain and coach, Wahab said, possibly trying to add a swift “70-80 runs”.”We are still into our first innings and there aren’t many runs on the board yet,” he said. “We can’t ask Australia to bat straightaway. There are still three days remaining in the match and we know that we have to take 20 wickets.”I am not sure how much we are going to need. It is the captain’s decision when to declare. Maybe we will look to score 70-80 more runs before putting Australia to bat and then we will try to get them out as cheaply as possible.”

The first Test between New Zealand and Pakistan at Hagley Oval is expected to go ahead as scheduled on November 17, despite Christchurch having suffered a 7.5 magnitude earthquake, just after midnight on Monday.The Pakistan men’s team, who were in Nelson when the quake occurred, reported being a little shaken by the experience, but will prepare for Thursday’s Test as usual.”Preparations for the Test are going ahead, but we are continuing to monitor the situation,” a New Zealand Cricket spokesperson said. “It’s just a case of staying in touch with authorities.”Both teams arrived in Christchurch on Monday and have training sessions scheduled for Tuesday. The area continued to be hit by aftershocks, however. A 6.3 magnitude quake was felt at around 1.30pm on Monday, and these are expected to continue through the next week.Pakistan team manager Wasim Bari said NZC had assured his side of their safety, in the team hotel and at the ground. The cricketers had spent a largely sleepless night in Nelson. They had evacuated their hotel when the quake hit, and most had not returned to their rooms for the remainder of the night, electing instead to remain in the reception area.”For us it was something new because we don’t have many earthquakes in Pakistan,” Bari said. “This was a pretty strong one. We’d just finished watching the India-England match and the doors and windows were going from one side to another as if they were made of paper. There was some trauma as well for the boys. Back home, the families had felt disturbed.”The Pakistan women’s team, meanwhile, had ridden out the quake in the upper floors of a Christchurch hotel. Their manager Basit Ali told Geo News that the team was safe, though “still scared”.The New Zealand men’s squad had only assembled in Christchurch on Monday morning, but fast bowler Matt Henry – a Christchurch native – had been in the city overnight. He described the experience as “a bit scary”, but was pleased the Test would go ahead.”It always brings the community together – provides a brief moment of normality,” Henry said. “It’s probably good timing to have the Test match this week. Hopefully the weather plays it’s part.”The epicentre of the earthquake was at a depth of about 5km, about 40km from the town of Amberley, which is only about 90km north-east of Hagley Oval. Hagley Oval had become a Test venue after the previous Christchurch ground was devastated by an earthquake in 2011.

The pitch was a vivid green and had spent a damp day under covers before the toss even took place, so it was little surprise that it was the most seam-friendly strip he had played international cricket on, Azhar Ali said.Pakistan have refused to blame conditions for the loss at Hagley Oval. They have repeated the Hagley surface was not out of the realm of challenges a professional cricketer can expect to face.Yet it is clear that even by New Zealand’s standards, the surface was especially kind to quicks.Never before, for example, have all 30 wickets in the first three innings gone to seamers, in a Test in New Zealand. And neither Yasir Shah – the No.5 Test bowler in the world – nor Todd Astle, who took a five-wicket haul on this ground three weeks ago, could pose a threat. They collectively bowled 17.3 overs and emerged wicketless. Azhar’s part-time legbreaks did claim one scalp, but this was after the scores had been tied, and the result was a foregone conclusion.”Maybe this is the most seam-friendly pitch I’ve played on in my international career,” Azhar said after the match. “It reminds of one or two pitches in Sri Lanka where the ball moves for a couple of hours on the first day or two but it starts to settle down. Here the movement is there for longer. It’s New Zealand’s home conditions so we, as a professional team, just have to play on whatever we get, and that’s it.”That their three-day practice match at Nelson had been washed out, exacerbated difficulties for Pakistan, though they did play a long Test series in England earlier this year. That tour had been played in England’s late summer, however, while this loss has come in New Zealand’s spring. Pakistan were also more effective on the drier tracks in London.”You usually don’t see in Australia, New Zealand or England a pitch that supports the seamers so much,” Azhar said. “There was no pitch was like this in England. It swings around there, but not as much grass as that. But this is the pitch we got, and New Zealand played better than us.”In what may be a worrying sign with a tour of Australia on the horizon, the short ball proved particularly effective against Pakistan in the second innings. Younis Khan, Babar Azam and Misbah-ul-Haq all fell to short-pitched bowling – though in dissimilar ways. The bouncer barrage on day three had been perhaps the definitive period of play in this Test.”If you come to this part of the world, you do expect that,” Azhar said. “You expect sub-continent teams will be tested with that short stuff and we all knew that. But as time goes on, we’ll get better, and we’re hopeful to turn things around quickly.”Though he only made 31 runs, Azhar had played the longest innings of the Test, surviving for over four hours, to face 173 deliveries. Having had an outstanding series in West Indies, he said he felt his own form was holding up.”As a batsman, I was applying myself and trying to battle out the conditions when it was tough,” he said. “The New Zealand bowlers held their plans really well, and held their lines long enough to create chances. We couldn’t get the flow of runs going at any stage, so that’s why sometimes it’s hard as a batsman. You’re trying to play well and do everything right, but the opposition sometimes doesn’t allow you to score runs.”But I’m confident that everything in my game is going alright. It’s just a matter of time until you start playing fluently and the runs start coming.”

R Ashwin is busy piling up some scarcely believable numbers. He has now taken 21 five-fors in 39 Tests, he has more Man-of-the-Series awards than any other Indian, and is well on track to move from 200 to 300 in one season.* In the Indore Test, the batsmen too finally piled on the runs, with captain Virat Kohli scoring a double-hundred, Ajinkya Rahane getting his personal best with 188, and Cheteshwar Pujara setting up the declaration with a century of his own. Kohli, though, wants to focus on the smaller contributions and the team effort, as opposed to individual achievements.”It is a team sport, and it is played like a team sport,” Kohli said. “Those who write – praise or criticise – performances stand out only for them. In the team we know, for example, if a fast bowler runs in hard for four overs and gets only two wickets, that means a lot in a Test match. For me the most important points in this series were [Ravindra] Jadeja’s batting in the first Test, [Wriddiman] Saha’s batting in the second Test, and [Mohammed] Shami’s spell in the second Test. They matter a lot to the team. Obviously you feel good about big individual contributions, but we focus more on little contributions. Because the big ones will be talked of anyway.”Shami’s spell in Kolkata came with his daughter unwell and in the hospital. “He’s someone everyone loves in the team and everyone gets along with,” Kohli said of Shami. “He’s someone that whatever might be happening with him, you won’t know. I had no clue that his daughter was in the hospital; he told us after. He will come on to the field and give everything he has.”Just needs a bit of motivation every now and then, which every fast bowler does in conditions that we have. Skill wise, there is no doubt he is a top top bowler. He has a knack of picking up wickets, even on this wicket he created quite a few chances.”If Shami’s was not a big contribution in terms of numbers, Kohli’s was. He showed remarkable patience and restraint in the face of disciplined New Zealand bowling in scoring his second double-century. Both his last centuries have been doubles. This innings of 211 included 115 singles and only 80 runs in boundaries. Kohli spoke of the mindset required.”Everybody is determined and focused to perform for the team whenever he goes out to bat,” Kohli said. “I have scored hundreds in the past but not big ones. I have always been disappointed with myself that I don’t convert them. Maybe I get satisfied at reaching a milestone. I convince myself now to not think of milestones. The crowds will be excited, the team-mates will appreciate it, but you should reinforce that mindset to convert it into a big one. So I tried to react just enough to let everybody know I appreciate their support, but not react as if I have achieved all I wanted to achieve. I wanted to go long.”Kohli celebrated his hundred by mock-throwing with an imaginary sidearm, thanking Sanjay Bangar, the India batting coach who celebrated his 44th birthday the day India finished their whitewash of New Zealand. “He always keeps assuring you that you are playing well, stay in that zone,” Kohli said of Bangar. “It helps a lot. Sometimes you are in a position when you are thinking about too many things, but there should be someone who talks to you, shares your load, shares your thoughts. On a regular basis he does that. That’s why I thanked him. A lot of people ignore how much work the support staff puts in behind the scenes.”*16.10GMT, October 11: The article had erroneously stated that Ashwin has 20 five-wicket hauls till date. This has been corrected.

Tim Murtagh has been given special dispensation to arrive late for Ireland’s tour of South Africa later this month, in order to play Middlesex’s County Championship decider against Yorkshire at Lord’s.Ireland take on South Africa and Australia in two ODIs at Benoni on September 25 and 27, two days after the conclusion of the final round of Championship fixtures, in which a Middlesex victory would end their 23-year wait for the title.”This match means a huge amount to both Tim and Middlesex,” said Cricket Ireland Performance Director, Richard Holdsworth. “Having played with the club for ten years, it would be the culmination of one of his most fiercely-held ambitions.”While the remainder of the squad will travel out tomorrow [Saturday], we felt this was an exceptional situation and a game which we should allow Tim to play in.”There has been a long and mutually beneficial relationship between Middlesex and Ireland, and we felt it would further strengthen our close ties by showing some flexibility on this occasion.”Middlesex have agreed to fly Murtagh out to South Africa as soon as the game finishes, in time for him to join the squad ahead of the first ODI against South Africa on September 25.Ed Joyce, meanwhile, has withdrawn from the tour after being diagnosed with a progressive knee injury which requires minor surgery.Joyce, who turns 38 next week, will be replaced in the squad by Leinster Lightning batsman Sean Terry, who made his Ireland debut earlier this summer during the series against Afghanistan.”It’s obviously a blow to lose someone of Ed’s calibre, but Sean Terry is a batsman of undoubted promise,” said John Bracewell, the head coach. “Given the likely pitch in Benoni, and the likelihood we will facing two majority pace attacks, the selectors felt that Sean was the logical replacement.”

Allrounder Carlos Brathwaite, who has played only eight T20Is, has been appointed the new West Indies T20 captain for the two matches against India later this month in Florida. Darren Sammy, who led them to two World T20 titles, was sacked and also left out of the 13-man squad.

West Indies T20 squad

Andre Fletcher, Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite (capt), Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Evin Lewis, Jason Holder, Johnson Charles, Kieron Pollard, Lendl Simmons, Marlon Samuels, Samuel Badree, Sunil Narine
In: Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard
Out: Darren Sammy, Sulieman Benn, Ashley Nurse, Denesh Ramdin, Jerome Taylor

Sammy had recently posted a video on his Facebook page saying the chairman of selectors had called him about the exclusion from the squad. A WICB release said: “With regards to Sammy’s omission from the squad, the Chairman [of selectors Courtney Browne] noted that the named-squad was selected purely on players’ performances.”Sammy hardly made an impact during the World T20 in India: he faced 13 balls in his three innings, scoring eight runs, and bowled three overs, taking one wicket.”The selection panel has expressed its thanks to former captain, [Darren] Sammy for his leadership of that format of the game for the two World Championship titles in 2012 and earlier this year,” the release said.Brathwaite had struck four consecutive sixes to win West Indies their second World T20 final, in April this year, and has played seven ODIs, the CPL and a Test against India in Antigua since then.”Brathwaite is one of the most talented players in the T20 format of the game and his humble and committed approach to the game can inspire young and upcoming players,” Browne said. “We are looking forward to a competitive series against India in these matches.”Sunil Narine and Kieron Pollard, who had both pulled out of the World T20 squad for different reasons, returned to the T20 squad. While Pollard had withdrawn because of “lack of sufficient progress in his rehabilitative work” after a knee injury, Narine’s reason was “insufficient progress in the rehabilitative work on his bowling action”. They had both played in the tri-series against South Africa and Australia in the West Indies in June. Narine had finished as the second-highest wicket-taker in the series and Pollard scored 205 runs from seven matches at an average of 41.Denesh Ramdin, Sulieman Benn, Ashley Nurse and Jerome Taylor were left out of the T20 squad. Ramdin had recently been dropped from the Test squad too. He scored 135 runs in eight CPL matches recently after the 197 runs he scored during the tri-series at an average of 28.14. Benn took only three wickets in seven matches in the tri-series and had an unimpressive CPL with four wickets from seven matches with an economy rate of 9.19. Taylor played four tri-series matches for only two wickets but collected 13 wickets from eight CPL matches, but it wasn’t enough for him to retain his place in the national squad. Nurse played only three CPL matches without any wicket.

Trinbago Knight Riders batsman William Perkins has been suspended for the remainder of the CPL for handing his Players/Match Official Access pass to a third party for the side’s league game against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in Lauderhill on Sunday.Perkins accepted the charges for breaching the ICC’s Minimum Standards for Players and clauses 10.1.1 and 10.1.2 of the player contract. Members of the CPL security team along with ICC Anti-Corruption manager Richard Reynolds had obtained Perkins’ pass, resulting in his immediate suspension. Perkins played four CPL games this season and scored 75 runs at an average of 18.75.Knight Riders face St Lucia Zouks in the second playoff match in Basseterre on Thursday.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJohnson Charles thumped nine fours and two sixes during his 35-ball 64•Peter Della Penna

Andre Fletcher and Johnson Charles struck half-centuries for the second day in a row, and combined for a 104-run opening partnership, to help St Lucia Zouks beat Jamaica Tallawahs by 17 runs. Zouks’ fifth win in their last six games concluded the Lauderhill leg of CPL 2016Charles kept up his scintillating form with 64 off 35 balls, his third half-century in his last four innings, and took over as the leading run-getter in the tournament with 410 runs at 45.55.Sunday’s rematch began after a 50-minute delay due to lightning in the area of the Central Broward Regional Park and despite the fact that Zouks posted the highest total of CPL 2016 after being sent in on Saturday, Tallawahs captain Chris Gayle opted to give Zouks first strike 24 hours later. The result was another dominant batting display spearheaded by the openers.Charles brought up his fifty in 25 balls off Timroy Allen in the ninth over, when he hit a six with the wind over midwicket to the northwest side of the ground. Allen nearly had Fletcher caught at long-on off the last ball of the over for 29, but the fielder came in several steps off the rope and with the ball taking off in a stiff breeze, a desperate leap only managed to parry the ball over for six.Tallawahs had added a third spinner to the line-up in Garey Mathurin and the left-armer eventually made the first breakthrough in the 12th over, forcing Charles to hit into the wind towards midwicket on the southeast side of the ground where Chadwick Walton took a good catch. Michael Hussey fell in similar fashion, hitting to Walton stationed at sweeper cover on off Rovman Powell at the start of the 16th over. Walton took his third catch in the same position when he combined with Powell again to nab Fletcher for 70 off 54 balls.The opener couldn’t power through the wind in the 18th and fell two overs short of making it through both Zouks innings in Lauderhill unbeaten.Kesrick Williams could have had Shane Watson caught off a paddle sweep at short fine leg on 22 if only he hadn’t overstepped. Watson went on to add 20, including two sixes in the final over off Powell to set a target of 195, just out of reach for Tallawahs.Tallawahs got off to a hot start in their chase with Gayle making 30 off 15 balls, in what eventually ended as his side’s top score, after being caught on the boundary off Watson. His innings typified the Tallawahs line-up, with everyone in the top seven getting into double-digits but no one able to carry on for a big score. His 43-run stand for the first wicket with Walton was also the best in the innings as wickets fell at regular intervals and stunted their momentum.Shane Shillingford claimed Walton and later Rovman Powell to finish with 2 for 30, his best figures on the season. Tallawahs had an outside chance of pulling off a win when they needed 43 off 18 balls with Alex Ross and Shakib Al Hasan at the crease, but Watson and Jerome Taylor virtually iced the game by conceding seven singles off the next 11 balls.After arriving in Lauderhill on July 21 in first place, Tallawahs leave in second and will face table-toppers Guyana Amazon Warriors in the first play-off match in St Kitts on Wednesday.