New Zealand has again demonstrated their superiority over Pakistan, taking the ODI series 2-0* after thrashing them 4-1 in the T20I series. What's more impressive? They did it without 11 of their most important players!

No Big Names? No Problem!

New Zealand was missing some of their biggest stars:

• No Kane Williamson
• No Mitchell Santner
• No Rachin Ravindra
• No Devon Conway
• No Lockie Ferguson
• No Glenn Phillips
• No Matt Henry
• No Kyle Jamieson
• No Tom Latham
• No Will Young
• No Ish Sodhi

Despite this, the Black Caps dominated Pakistan across formats, demonstrating the depth and power of their cricketing system.

Pakistan Left Pondering Answers

Pakistan entered the series with a close to full-strength team but couldn't keep up with New Zealand's intensity and execution. The T20I series was concluded in a 4-1 thrashing, and now the ODIs have been concluded in New Zealand's favor as well.

This overawing performance is indicative of New Zealand's phenomenal team culture and depth of talent pool. Even with their superstars missing, they still manage to win.

Pakistan, however, will have to look back on these crushing losses and work on how to regain their momentum.

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T20I Series: A 4-1 Thrashing

Pakistan, with their near-strength team, had great expectations of victorious wins in the T20I series. New Zealand's second-string team crushed them 4-1, revealing glaring gaps in Pakistan's game.

ODI Series: Kiwis Seal the Trophy 2-0

The ODIs were also on the same page. New Zealand was merciless, dominating Pakistan with intelligent strategies and clinical performances. Even without their lead stars, they appeared much stronger than Pakistan, who fought with both bat and ball.

What This Means for New Zealand

This series victory is an exhibition of the solidity and robustness of New Zealand's cricket structure. Despite lacking their established players, they have managed to secure victories comfortably. Their capacity to develop young cricketers and sustain a stable team culture is one of the largest explanations of their ongoing performance in international cricket.

What This Means for Pakistan

This is a wake-up call for Pakistani cricket. Beating a decimated New Zealand team in both T20Is and ODIs is a serious cause for concern. With their full-strength team, they should have done better, but instead, they seemed clueless. Their batting was inconsistent, and their bowling was ineffective.

New Zealand has again humiliated Pakistan on their home soil, even though they were missing 11 of their main players. This overawing performance says a lot about their cricket set-up, whereas Pakistan has to return to the drawing board and sort out problems before their next major challenge.

The ODI series between Pakistan and New Zealand has so far consisted of one match, with the series 1–0 in favor of New Zealand. The second encounter is scheduled for Seddon Park in Hamilton. With the momentum after their victory in the first ODI, the hosts will seek to clinch the series, while Pakistan hope to recover and keep the series alive.

Match Details – 2nd ODI

1st ODI Recap

New Zealand began the series on a high note with a convincing 73-run victory. Given to bat first, the hosts put up a huge score of 344/9, with a scintillating 132 from Mark Chapman and a steady 76 from Daryl Mitchell.

In reply, Pakistan scored 271 before being bowled out in the 45th over. Babar Azam scored the highest with 78, while Salman Agha contributed a 58-ball 58. Nathan Smith was the star of the bowling attack, taking 4 wickets, while Jacob Duffy took 2.

Predicted Playing XI – New Zealand

Bench: Nick Kelly, Mohammad Abbas, Rhys Mariu

Predicted Playing XI – Pakistan

Bench: Faheem Ashraf, Irfan Khan Niazi, Akif Javed, Sufiyan Muqeem

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What to Watch

The second ODI promises several key mini-battles. New Zealand’s young squad has shown maturity and composure, but can they maintain consistency to close out the series? Pakistan will be hoping that their experienced top order, led by Babar and Rizwan, can guide them to a comeback. The middle overs will be crucial, particularly the contest between Pakistan’s spinners and New Zealand’s left-handers like Chapman and Bracewell.

Venue Watch – Seddon Park, Hamilton

Seddon Park generally has a good batting wicket with true bounce and quick outfields that reward stroke play. Spinners may come into the picture towards the later part of the day as the wicket deteriorates. Historically, run chases have been a preferred choice at this ground, and therefore, the toss may again be crucial.

What to Expect

With New Zealand replete with confidence and Pakistan desperate to hit back, the second ODI is going to be a thrilling contest. The Kiwis will want to wrap up the series at the earliest opportunity, while Pakistan possesses the arsenal to hit back. Hamilton will be the stage where all attention will be concentrated as the series gathers momentum.

Will Pakistan discover their rhythm and attract level of attraction, or will New Zealand keep extending their winning streak? The answers lie in the second ODI encounter.

The Indian cricket team is going on a tour of Australia in 2025 that is filled with a lot of action and entertainment. It will be a battle of three ODIs and five T20Is. The series, no doubt, is going to be very interesting. Both teams are up for some fierce contests at Australia's most iconic venues. Here are the details of the schedule and what to expect from such a high-profile tour.

ODI Series Schedule:

• First ODI – Perth (October 19)
• Second ODI – Adelaide (October 23)
• Third ODI – Sydney (October 25)

The ODI series will be very crucial for both teams, as it will enable them to have a detailed look at their respective squads in preparation for forthcoming international tournaments. The adaptability and resilience of the Indian team are to be severely tested at the different locations across the vast land of Australia.

T20I Series Schedule:

• First T20I – Manuka Oval (October 29)
• Second T20I – MCG (October 31)
• Third T20I – Bellerive Oval (November 2)
• Fourth T20I – Gold Coast (November 6)
• Fifth T20I – Gabba (November 8)

This five-match T20I series, given that the T20 World Cup is just around the corner, will be the most important platform for both sides of India and Australia to experiment with their strategies, the performance of the players, and the combination of the squad. The MCG and Gabba would also be the venues where the fans worldwide, as well as the players, will enjoy engaging in a whole new spectacle.

🚨India Tour Of Australia 🎫 pic.twitter.com/EGSNIRgxFo

— RVCJ Media (@RVCJ_FB) March 30, 2025

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What to Expect?

This tour will be seen as the battle between the two strongest cricket teams in the world. While Australia will be enjoying the benefit of playing at home, India will be looking to retain their form in this kind of condition. This series will keep the fans fixated with high-scoring games, big-hitting displays, and fierce rivalries all around.

The cricket fans globally are watching the upcoming India-Australia match with bated breath. Keep in touch for reports from the game and series analysis as the matches continue.

In his absence, Michael Bracewell continues with the captaincy after leading the team in the T20I series. In his stead, Henry Nicholls has been brought in, while Mitch Hay will assume the role of the new wicketkeeper. 

Also Read: Watch: Ishan Kishan and Umpire Anil Chaudhary making fun of Mohammad Rizwan

Latham was set to lead New Zealand with Qd the IPL Santner; however, he suffered an injury earlier this week that did not allow him to participate. Latham did get x-rays to assess the damage. After the first ODI in Napier, Will Young steps out of the squad to support his wife as they prepare to welcome their first child. He is replaced by rhythmic 23-year-old batter Rhys Mariu, who has a first-class career average of 61.73.

Michael Bracewell will lead New Zealand in the ODI series against Pakistan, with Tom Latham ruled out after suffering a fractured hand during training; Henry Nicholls has been called up.

More details: https://t.co/xOG4E0k833 #NZvPAK pic.twitter.com/6nDXzA42yH

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) March 27, 2025

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Head coach of New Zealand, Garry Stead, spoke of the changes to the squad, admitting they had several players unavailable, and it did indeed pose a challenge; however, it did create opportunities as well. He also honored two players coming into the squad for their performance and remained confident in Bracwell's leadership. “Disappointing as it is losing Tom is, Michael did an excellent job leading the T20I series, and I am pleased to see the shape Michael's leadership of the team is in,” Stead responded. He also extended best wishes to Young and his wife, Elise.

The squad had already included uncapped players Muhammad Abbas and Nick Kelly, while Kane Williamson opted out of the series. New Zealand will now rely on a mix of experience and fresh talent as they take on Pakistan.

India's team is warming up for the 2027 ODI World Cup, with the event poised to be staged in South Africa in October. Ahead of the World Cup, India will prepare by hosting 24 ODIs in different series against powerful nations.

Why This Schedule Matters

• Experimenting With Different Combinations: Having many young players involved, the team management will find sufficient time to experiment with different combinations and find the right combination.
• Different Conditions: Playing against countries like Australia, South Africa, and England will give India good exposure to differing conditions of play.
• Picking Up Momentum: Performing well in these bilateral series will raise the team morale prior to the World Cup.
• Identifying Key Players: These periods will be defining for veterans to find their place and for the young guns to find a place in the 50-over game.

India's Future ODI Series:

• 3 ODIs vs Bangladesh
• 3 ODIs vs Australia
• 3 ODIs vs South Africa
• 3 ODIs vs Afghanistan
• 3 ODIs vs England
• 3 ODIs vs West Indies
• 3 ODIs vs New Zealand
• 3 ODIs vs Sri Lanka

These fixtures will enable India to experiment with different combinations, strengthen their team, and build momentum before the World Cup. With stiff competition from the world's best teams, India will seek to refine their strategies and form a winning team for the tournament.

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The Road Ahead

Since South Africa is hosting the 2027 ODI World Cup, India will have to adapt to the conditions. Seam-friendly tracks, bouncy pitches, and unpredictable weather are going to be the tasks that India will have to acclimatize to. The series ahead will give players the experience and form patterns to thrive in those conditions.

As the World Cup 2027 countdown begins, everyone's eyes are going to fall on Team India's preparation. Are they going to form a team strong enough to take the trophy home here? The journey has begun, and every single match is going to play a deciding role in the destiny of Indian cricket

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has announced a Women's One-Day tri-series between India, Sri Lanka, and South Africa. The competition will be held in April and May at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

This tri-series will ready all three sides for the 2025 Women's ODI World Cup. The teams will have four matches each, and the first two teams on the table will be ready to go into the final on May 11. All matches will be day games.

Post-tri-series, Indian women will visit England for a tour comprising five T20Is and three ODIs in June-July.

Tri-Series Fixture List:

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🚨 TRI SERIES IS BACK FOR INDIA 🚨

- India, Sri Lanka & South Africa will play a Women's ODI Tri series in April-May 2025. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/HdH78zODSJ

— Tanuj Singh (@ImTanujSingh) March 6, 2025

Currently, Indian players are competing in the Women's Premier League (WPL), which started on February 14 and will conclude on March 15.

This tri-series promises exciting matches and will be an important step in preparing for the upcoming World Cup.

For nearly a decade, cricket fans worldwide admired the legendary 'Fab Four': Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, and Joe Root. These four players were the biggest faces in international cricket, across formats, for almost a decade, bombarding records with great consistency, technique, and leadership. However, as time passes, the once-invicible quartet is now showing signs of fading away, raising questions about the next era of cricketing greats.

The Fab Four In Tests
Test cricket has been the ultimate proving ground for these four marstros. Kohli's dominant captaincy and stroke play, Smith's unorthodox but very effective technique, Williamson's calmness, and Root's classical style make them a force to reckon with. However, with age comes a different team dynamic, slowly nearing the edge of this sheer joy. Though Root and Williamson continue to be key players for their teams, Smith and Kohli have, in more recent years, struggled to provide that consistency.

The Fab Four In ODIs
The Image in below post a noticeable shift - Smith has turned black and white, suggesting that he is no longer capable of using his own skills. While modern-day cricket embraces power-hitting and aggressive strike rates, the dominance of the Fab Four in ODIs has been challenged by rising stars such as Babar Azam and Shubman Gill. While Kohli is still as formidable as ever, his role continues to evolve, while Williamson and Root seem to be throwing in the towel and unable to maintain their high standards in ODIs.

The Fab-four are fading away 😢 pic.twitter.com/4bWDFpsdDP

— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) March 5, 2025

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The T20I Scenario of the Fab Four 
If there is one thing to take away from this image of T20 cricket, it is that the influential players of the format—Captain Kohli, Captain Smith, and Captain Root—all have reduced influences on T20. Power hitters and batting with a focus on the strike rate have largely edged out these players. Even though Williamson is hailed as an astute captain, he has not been hitting it big in terms of strike rates. As for Root, he has rarely made an appearance on the T20I stage.

The Future of the Fab Four 
Now as the Fab Four slowly dissolve, they leave behind unanswered questions: who will be winning these winks instead? Enter Babar Azam, Marnus Labuschagne, and Shubman Gill, who are already making their presence felt. But Kohli, Smith, Williamson, and Root will be an impossible feat to replicate. Cricket is in a state of transition.

Although the Fab Four show every sign of no longer being in their prime, their endeavors have forever inscribed them into history. Whether they will have a second innings or leave the scene gracefully will still play out. For now, it is the fans who can only turn back the pages of history and reminisce about the golden age they created.

The USA amazed audiences on Tuesday by defending only 122 runs against Oman in an ODI, thus setting a new low for the smallest number of runs to be defended in a full-length men's ODI. They won by 57 runs in a match that was completely dominated by the spin-bowling.

Nosthush Kenjige stole the show with the ball, taking 5 wickets for just 11 runs in 7.3 overs, thus blowing Oman away. Oman cracked under the pressure and got dismissed for a measly total of just 65 runs which is their lowest total in the history of men’s international cricket.

Over 4800+ ODI cricket matches, Lowest successfully defended ODI score. 122 made by USA 🇺🇸 against Oman 🇴🇲 (85 allOUT) today.

Previous one, 1985/03/22 India 🇮🇳 126 allout against Pakistan 🇵🇰. Won by 38 runs.

🏏🏆️#omavusa pic.twitter.com/uCyG5EPLjq

— Ishara (@Ishara23032) February 18, 2025

Milind Kumar was also instrumental in the match with his off-spin, he picked up 2 wickets for 17 runs, one of which was the key dismissal of Oman’s captain, Jatinder Singh, who managed only 7 runs. Yasir Mohammed added 2 wickets for 10 runs, while Harmeet Singh chipped in with 1 for 25. In the end, Kenjige finished the game in style by taking the wicket of No. 11 Siddharth Bukkapatnam, who was bowled for a duck and thereby, the USA made history by winning the match.

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History books rewritten in Al-Amerat!

USA claim an ODI record in a stunning League 2 defence 👇 #OMAvUSAhttps://t.co/BJNF6rWEKG

— ICC (@ICC) February 18, 2025

The pitch conditions massively tilted the advantage in favor of spinners, and not a single over of pace was bowled for the entire duration of the match. Oman went with a five-spinner attack, but the USA responded with much restraint as their own slow bowlers—Milind Kumar, Harmeet Singh, Yasir Mohammed, and Kenjige.

Oman had aimed to replicate their recent success with spin against Namibia, and their bowlers started strong, reducing the USA to 5 wickets down within 13 overs. Captain Monank Patel was dismissed for a duck, while Aaron Jones and Sanjay Krishnamurthi each scored 16 runs.

But Milind Kumar was strong in a gritty, unbeaten 47 that saw six boundaries hit and guaranteed the USA breach the 100-run barrier. It was sufficient because Oman's batting order capitulated under a never-ending onslaught of spin bowling.

Ultimately, it was a record victory for the USA that confirmed even the lowest scores could be defended when using the proper tactics and techniques.

Sehwag, who is a legends of the game himself, called Kohli his favourite batter due to his knack to chase targets. "Kohli is a master of chases “, Sehwag said. He is very good in chases and he seems to get the job done every time."

Why Kohli Pipped the Master Blaster?

Sehwag has a lot of respect for Tendulkar but he has ranked Kohli as No. 1 for his consistency and match-winning ability along with the phenomenal record Kohli has in ODIs.

The Indian trails No. 1 Sehwag, who is hailed as the greatest ever batter. “It’s because Tendulkar is my idol,” Sehwag said. “He is my biggest batman I have ever seen. He taught me a lot about how aggressive you can be up there at the top of the order."

At No. 3, Sehwag chose former Pakistan middle-order batter Inzamam-ul-Haq, who reigned in the 1990s and 2000s. His top two were Indian batters — Sachin Tendulkar at No. 2 and Virat Kohli at No. 1.

The rest of the three batters on Sehwag's shortlist are:
3. Inzamam-ul-Haq
4. AB de Villiers
5. chris Gayle

"All these batters are legends, Sehwag said. “They all have a legacy in ODI cricket.”
Virender Sehwag has jaw-dropping stats of his five ODI batters. Sachin Tendulkar is still the leading run-scorer in ODI as he amassed 18,426 runs at an average of 44.83 and a strike rate of 86.23 across 463 matches. Now the guy with the more hundreds than anyone (50) in limited-overs cricket is Virat Kohli with 13,963 runs at an average of 57.93 with a strike rate of 93.52 in 297 matches. Seventh on 11,739 runs at 39.52 and strike rate of 74.24 in 378 matches. The only batsman to have scored 9,577 runs at an average over 50 and a strike rate over 100 or above is AB de Villiers, who had 228 ODIs with an average of 53.50 and a strike rate of 101.09. Gale who was an explosive batter scored 10,480 runs in ODIs at an average of 37.83 at a strike rate of 87.19.

Kohli takes top spot, Tendulkar at No. 2 🤯@virendersehwag reveals his Top 5 ODI batters 🔥

Watch now 👉🏼 pic.twitter.com/3qIf1nmlDN

— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) February 17, 2025

Sehwag's statement will invite controversy but only proves the greatness of both Kohli and Sachin. Both batters have achieved incredible things in ODI cricket and they are both deserving of a place in any all-time list.

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Road to the Final: IPL 2025 Playoffs Set to Ignite

The next Daytime International (ODI) between Zimbabwe & Ireland is scheduled for February 16, 2025 at Harare Sports Club Harare in Second cricket match for the fans. Both sides are eager to take the series up on their home soil and we should have an entertaining encounter. 

Match Details

• Fixture: Zimbabwe vs Ireland, 2nd ODI
• Date: February 16, 2025
• Venue: Harare Sports Club, Harare
• Match Start Time: 1:00 PM IST | 9:30 AM Local Time | 7:30 AM GMT

LIVE STREAMING DETAILS:

Cricket fans worldwide can catch the action through various streaming platforms and TV channels.

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How to Watch Online?