The
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand national cricket team represents New Zealand in men's international cricket. Named the Black Caps, they played their first Test in 1930 against England in Christchurch, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. From 1930 ...
toured the United Arab Emirates between October and December 2018 to play three
Tests
Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to:
* Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities
Arts and entertainment
* ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film
* ''Test'' (2014 film), ...
, three
One Day International
A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...
s (ODIs) and three
Twenty20 International
A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...
(T20Is) matches against
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
.
Originally, the tour was scheduled to have three Tests, five ODIs and one T20I match.
In February 2018, the
Pakistan Cricket Board
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan national cricket team. A member of the International Cricket Coun ...
(PCB) looked at the possibility of hosting this series and
Australia's tour to the UAE in Malaysia instead of the UAE, due to domestic
Twenty20
Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single innin ...
fixture congestion in
Sharjah
Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area.
Sharjah is the capital o ...
.
In May 2018, the PCB invited New Zealand to play the fixtures in Pakistan.
In June 2018, the PCB and the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) agreed to play Pakistan's future matches in the UAE.
In July 2018,
New Zealand Cricket
New Zealand Cricket, formerly the New Zealand Cricket Council, is the governing body for professional cricket in New Zealand. Cricket is the most popular and highest profile summer sport in New Zealand.
New Zealand Cricket operates the New Z ...
(NZC) confirmed that they had declined the PCB's offer to play the T20I fixtures in Pakistan because of security concerns. Therefore, all the matches on the tour took place in the UAE as scheduled.
Pakistan won the T20I series 3–0, setting a new record for the most consecutive series wins in T20Is, with eleven.
The ODI series was drawn 1–1, after the third match finished as a
no result
The result in a game of cricket may be a "win" for one of the two teams playing, or a "tie". In the case of a limited overs game, the game can also end with "no result" if the game can't be finished on time (usually due to weather or bad ligh ...
due to rain.
During the third Test, Pakistan's
Mohammad Hafeez
Mohammad Hafeez ( Punjabi and ur, ; born 17 October 1980) is a former Pakistani international cricketer. Hafeez was a versatile batsman who could bat anywhere in the top 6 and formed part of the bowling attack. He played as a spin bowling a ...
announced that he would retire from Test cricket following the conclusion of the match, to focus on
limited-overs cricket
Limited overs cricket, also known as one-day cricket or white ball cricket, is a version of the sport of cricket in which a match is generally completed in one day. There are a number of formats, including List A cricket (8-hour games), Twenty ...
. Hafeez said that the time was right to retire from Test cricket and that he was honoured to represent Pakistan in 55 Test matches, including captaining the side.
In the same match, Pakistan's
Yasir Shah
Yasir Shah SI (; born 2 May 1986) is an international cricketer from Pakistan. He plays as a bowler, and is the joint-second fastest bowler in the history of Test cricket to take 100 wickets, as well as also being the fastest to pick up 200 wi ...
set a new record for the fastest bowler to take 200 wickets in Tests. He achieved it in his 33rd Test, breaking an 82-year old record that was set by
Clarrie Grimmett
Clarence Victor "Clarrie" Grimmett (25 December 1891 – 2 May 1980) was a New Zealand-born Australian cricketer. He is thought by many to be one of the finest early spin bowlers, and usually credited as the developer of the flipper.
Early li ...
of Australia, who took his 200th wicket in his 36th match. New Zealand went on to win the Test series 2–1. It was New Zealand's first away Test series win against Pakistan
since 1969.
Squads
Ahead of the tour,
Martin Guptill
Martin James Guptill (born 30 September 1986) is a New Zealand international cricketer who plays as an opening batsman in limited overs formats of the game. Guptill is the first cricketer from New Zealand and the fifth overall to have scored a d ...
was ruled out of New Zealand's ODI and T20I squads with a calf injury.
Corey Anderson,
Glenn Phillips and
Ajaz Patel
Ajaz Yunus Patel (born 21 October 1988) is a New Zealand cricketer who plays for Central Districts in domestic cricket. Patel is a slow left-arm orthodox spin bowler. He made his international debut for the New Zealand cricket team in October 20 ...
were added to New Zealand's T20I squad before the start of the tour.
Ahead of the ODI series,
Lockie Ferguson
Lachlan Hammond Ferguson (born 13 June 1991) is a New Zealand cricketer who represents the New Zealand national team and plays first-class cricket for Auckland. He is able to bowl at speeds in excess of 90 mph, His fastest being 97.7  ...
,
Ajaz Patel
Ajaz Yunus Patel (born 21 October 1988) is a New Zealand cricketer who plays for Central Districts in domestic cricket. Patel is a slow left-arm orthodox spin bowler. He made his international debut for the New Zealand cricket team in October 20 ...
and
George Worker
George Herrick Worker (born 23 August 1989) is a New Zealand international cricketer. He was named in New Zealand's squad for their tour to Zimbabwe in August 2015, after Mitchell Santner was ruled out due to injury. He made his Twenty20 Inter ...
were added to New Zealand's ODI squad.
Todd Astle
Todd Duncan Astle (born 24 September 1986) is a New Zealand cricketer who plays for the New Zealand national cricket team. Astle began his cricket career as an opening batsman, representing New Zealand in the 2006 Under-19 Cricket World Cup, bu ...
was ruled out of both the ODI and Test series with a knee injury with
William Somerville replacing him in New Zealand's Test squad.
T20I series
1st T20I
2nd T20I
3rd T20I
ODI series
1st ODI
2nd ODI
3rd ODI
Test series
1st Test
2nd Test
3rd Test
Notes
References
External links
Series home at ESPN Cricinfo
{{DEFAULTSORT:New Zealand cricket team against Pakistan in the UAE in 2018-19
2018 in New Zealand cricket
2018 in Pakistani cricket
International cricket competitions in 2018–19
New Zealand cricket tours of Pakistan
International cricket tours of the United Arab Emirates