Opener Salman Butt smashed a record-breaking century to help Pakistan beat Bangladesh by 150 runs in the fifth and final day-night international on Saturday for a 5-0 series whitewash. The left-hander scored a career-best 136 to lift Pakistan to their highest one-day total against Bangladesh of 329-9 in their 50 overs.
Pakistan marched to an easy seven-wicket win against Bangladesh in the fourth one-day international on Wednesday and stretched their lead to 4-0 in the five-match series. Pakistan’s in-form top order batting line-up — led by left-hander Salman Butt (74) — scored 212-3 in 44.3 overs.
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/ 30 January 2008
Mohammad Yousuf’s brilliant century and Shoaib Malik’s all-round contribution helped Pakistan overwhelm Zimbabwe by seven wickets in the fourth one-day match in Faisalabad on Wednesday. The win, which lifted the home team to a 4-0 lead in the five-match series, came in Pakistan’s world-record 673rd one-day match.
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/ 21 January 2008
Pakistan established a new record in crushing Zimbabwe by 104 runs in the first one-day international (ODI) in Pakistan on Monday. Pakistan piled up a total of 347-5 and then restricted the visitors to 243-7 in 50 overs. It was the first time in 2 662 one-day internationals that five batsmen scored half centuries in an innings.
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/ 4 December 2007
Stand-in captain Younis Khan staved off a spin threat with a responsible century to help Pakistan draw the second Test against India on Tuesday. Younis scored an unbeaten 107 under pressure as Pakistan recovered from 78-4 to finish at 214-4 in their second innings chasing a stiff 345-run target off 81 overs on the fifth and final day.
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/ 2 December 2007
Misbah-ul-Haq and Kamran Akmal scored battling hundreds to steer Pakistan to 358-6 against India on the third day of the second Test on Sunday. In-form Misbah, who struck 108 not out, and keeper-batsman Akmal, with 119, shared in a 207-run sixth-wicket stand after the visitors had lost four wickets in the morning session at Eden Gardens.
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/ 28 November 2007
Pakistan’s hopes of avoiding their first series loss in India in more than two decades suffered a setback following injuries and illness to key players ahead of Friday’s second Test in Kolkata. Pakistan were sweating over the fitness of paceman Shoaib Akhtar who was hospitalised on Tuesday due to a chest infection.
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/ 23 November 2007
Venkatsai Laxman and Mahendra Singh Dhoni cracked responsible half-centuries to pull India out of trouble in the opening Test against Pakistan on Friday. The hosts had slipped from 71-1 to 93-5 in the space of seven overs before Dhoni (57) counter-attacked to put on 115 for the sixth wicket with Laxman on a day of fluctuating fortunes.
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/ 22 November 2007
Misbah-ul Haq struck a fighting 71 not out to rally Pakistan to 210-8 at the close on the opening day of the first Test against India on Thursday. Indian skipper Anil Kumble grabbed three wickets on his captaincy debut as the host bowlers dominated the first two sessions, reducing Pakistan to 142-8 at tea.
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/ 21 November 2007
South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn has left his mark on the LG International Cricket Council (ICC) player rankings following his man-of-the-series performances against New Zealand. Steyn, who took 20 wickets in two matches against the Black Caps, has rocketed up to third in the latest listings for Test bowlers, a reflection of his recent potency.
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/ 5 November 2007
Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh slammed solid half-centuries to guide India to an emphatic five-wicket victory over Pakistan in the first one-day international here on Monday. Skipper Dhoni top-scored with 63 and Yuvraj made 58 as India surpassed Pakistan’s total of 239-7 with 18 balls to spare.
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/ 5 November 2007
Mohammad Yousuf and Salman Butt hit half-centuries to help Pakistan reach a competitive 239-7 in the opening one-day international against India on Monday. Middle-order batsman Yousuf, dropped on 10, top-scored with an unbeaten 83 while left-handed opener Butt hit a brisk 50 in his comeback match.
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/ 29 October 2007
South Africa spoiled Pakistan paceman Shoaib Akhtar’s comeback match on Monday with a stunning 14-run victory in the fifth and final limited-overs game to clinch the series 3-2. Akhtar took 4-43 to restrict South Africa to 233-9 off 50 overs with Jacques Kallis scoring a fighting 86 and Herschelle Gibbs making a fine 54.
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/ 26 October 2007
Brilliant half-centuries from Graeme Smith and Shaun Pollock helped South Africa win the fourth one-day international against Pakistan by seven wickets on Friday to level the five-match series 2-2. Pakistan’s total of 230-9 had looked respectable, but Smith (81) and Pollock (90) added 159 runs for the second-wicket stand to help their team reach 233-3 in 37.4 overs.
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/ 23 October 2007
Pakistan produced disciplined cricket to upstage South Africa by six wickets in the third day-night international in Faisalabad on Tuesday, to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Rao Iftikhar made a career-best 3-33 and leg-spinner Shahid Afridi 3-37 to restrict the tourists to 197 all out.
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/ 20 October 2007
Mohammad Yousuf hit a brilliant century to lead Pakistan to a 25-run victory over South Africa in a day-night international in Lahore on Saturday and level the series 1-1. Yousuf’s 143-ball 117 ensured Pakistan posted a fighting 265-9 before the home team overcame poor fielding to restrict the SA to 240 in 49.3 overs.
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/ 18 October 2007
AB de Villiers and Herschelle Gibbs smashed centuries to help South Africa defeat Pakistan by 45 runs in the first day-night international in Lahore on Thursday. De Villiers notched a brisk unbeaten 95-ball 103, while Gibbs scored 102 to propel the tourists to 294-5 in 50 overs before paceman Makhaya Ntini restricted Pakistan to 249 in 46.3 overs.
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/ 16 October 2007
South Africa all-rounder Shaun Pollock, his New Zealand counterpart Jacob Oram and Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar have signed up for the Indian Premier League Twenty20 series, organisers said on Tuesday. Their inclusion takes to 25 the number of foreign players who have committed to the lucrative league due to start next April.
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/ 12 October 2007
South Africa sealed their first Test series on the subcontinent since 2000 on Friday after being held to a draw by Pakistan in the second and final match. Pakistan, set a mammoth 457 to win, finished the final day on 316-4 with Younis Khan scoring a brilliant 130 while Mohammad Yousuf marked his return to the team with a stylish 63.
Pakistan struggled to 140 for four in reply to South Africa’s 357 all out at the close on day two of the second Test at the Gadaffi stadium on Tuesday. Inzamam-ul-Haq (37) appearing in his 120th and final Test, was unbeaten on 10 alongside Misbah-ul-Haq (10) after Pakistan lost four wickets in the final session.
Skipper Graeme Smith and four other South Africans are among 10 current internationals to have signed up for the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) to be played next year, organisers said on Tuesday. Building on the national team’s Twenty20 World Cup triumph, the Indian cricket board is to launch its own multimillion-dollar professional Twenty20 league.
Pakistan will have to fight hard to save the first Test against South Africa after a masterly knock of 155 by Jacques Kallis put the tourists in command at the National Stadium in Karachi on Tuesday. At the close on the second day, Pakistan were 127-5 in reply to South Africa’s first innings total of 450, still needing a further 124 to avoid the follow-on.
South African captain Graeme Smith won the toss and elected to bat in the first Test against Pakistan on Monday after Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf pulled out at the last minute. The 33-year-old Yousuf last week cancelled his contract with a rebel Indian league and made himself available for Pakistan.
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/ 11 September 2007
Australia captain Ricky Ponting capped another excellent year by picking up the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) cricketer of the year award for the second successive year on Monday. ”I am the first player to win this award twice in a row and it’s a great thrill for me and something I am very proud of,” said Ponting.
Australian skipper Ricky Ponting leads the nominations for this year’s International Cricket Council (ICC) annual awards, figuring in as many as four individual categories. The 32-year-old Ponting, who led Australia to an unprecedented hat-trick of World Cup titles in West Indies in April, is in the race to retain both the Cricketer of the Year and Test Player of the Year awards.