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West Indies quicks make merry but Williamson, Bracewell ensure even day
Michael Bracewell and Nathan Smith’s 52-run stand for the seventh wicket ensured New Zealand ended the rain-affected opening day on an even keel. In seam-friendly conditions at the Hagley Oval,Kane Williamson had set the platform with a half-century but once he fell, New Zealand collapsed to 148 for 6. They looked in danger of being bowled out under 200 before the lower order steered them to 231 for 9 at stumps.
After winning the toss, West Indies captain Roston Chase had no hesitation in opting to bowl first. Apart from the overcast conditions and a green pitch, Chase also pointed to the venue’s history. Of the 15 Tests played here, including the current one, only once has a team opted to bat after winning the toss, South Africa in 2022.
Kemar Roach, playing his first Test since January 2025, took only three balls to prove his captain right. Bowling around the wicket, he pitched one up in the channel. Devon Conway hung his bat out, got a healthy outside edge, and Justin Greaves did the rest at second slip.
But rain arrived after just 3.3 overs and halted play for 90 minutes. Another shower towards the end of the first session meant only 10.3 overs were possible before an early lunch was taken. New Zealand scored only 17 in that period.
Williamson upped the scoring rate after lunch, hitting Johann Layne for two fours in three balls. While he was not always in control, he played late and defended with soft hands, like he always does. That helped him survive and also score runs on a difficult pitch.
Debutant Ojay Shields had a forgettable start. His first ball in Test cricket was short and wide and a front-foot no-ball. Tom Latham, who was on 2 off 47 until then, cut it away for four. In his next over, Shields bowled Williamson through the gate but had once again overstepped.
That showed there was still help from the pitch but Layne and Shields were not disciplined enough to take advantage of it. But Greaves was. In his back-to-back overs, he removed Williamson and Latham. Williamson was squared up and caught at second slip; Latham nicked an overpitched delivery to the wicketkeeper.
Soon after, Jayden Seales castled Rachin Ravindra with a full delivery from around the wicket. Will Young made only 14 before Layne had him caught at second slip, leaving New Zealand 120 for 5. It was Layne’s maiden Test wicket. Shields followed suit when Tom Blundell inside-edged one onto his stumps.
Bracewell and Smith then got together and revived the innings. Bracewell was the aggressor in their stand, while Smith defended well. Chase eventually broke the stand when Smith flicked one uppishly to short midwicket.
Bracewell realised there was not much batting left and started taking more risks. The strategy didn’t work for long, though. On 47, he miscued a pull to give Shields his second wicket. Matt Henry also fell to the short ball, caught off Roach for 8. Two balls later, Roach hit Jacob Duffy on the helmet with another bouncer. As the physio came out for a concussion test, the umpires realised it had gotten too dark to continue.
As a result, only 70 overs were possible in the day’s play. In those 70 overs, West Indies gave away 23 extras, which could prove to be decisive in these conditions.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 231 for 9 in 70 overs (Kane Williamson 52, Michaell Bracewell 47; Kemar Roach 2-47, Oja Shields 2-34, Justin Greaves 2-35) vs West Indies
[Cricinfo]
US President Donald Trump has withdrawn an invite for Canada to join his newly constituted Board of Peace, in the latest spat between the North American neighbours.
“Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada’s joining,” Trump said on Truth Social in a post addressed to Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Carney made headlines this week warning of a “rupture” in the US-led global order. Ottawa also said it would not pay to join Trump’s new body.
The board, which gives Trump wide decision-making powers as chairman, is being billed by the US as a new international organisation for resolving conflicts.
Trump did not give a reason in Thursday evening’s post as to why he had decided to revoke Canada’s offer.
Carney’s office did not immediately respond. The prime minster had indicated last week he would accept Trump’s invite on principle.
But Ottawa had indicated in recent days that it would not pay the $1bn (£740m) membership fee which Trump has said permanent members will be asked to pay to help fund the board.
His Board of Peace was originally thought to be aimed at helping end the two-year war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and oversee reconstruction.
[BBC]
Two people have died and several are feared buried after landslides in New Zealand’s North Island.
The deaths were reported at Welcome Bay, while rescue workers are still searching through rubble at a different site in a popular campground on Mount Maunganui.
There are no “signs of life”, authorities said, adding that they have a “rough idea” of how many people are missing but are waiting for an exact figure. They provided no other details except that the group includes “at least one young girl”.
The landslides were triggered by heavy rains over the last few days, which led to flooding and power outages across the North Island. One minister said the east coast resembled “a war zone”.
New Zealand is “heavy with grief” after the “profound tragedy” caused by recent weather, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said on X.
Footage from the campsite on Mount Maunganui, an extinct volcano, shows a huge slip near the base of the volcanic dome, as rescuers and sniffer dogs comb through crushed caravans and flattened tents.
Authorities said that the search would continue through the night. “This is a complex and high-risk environment, and our teams are working to achieve the best possible outcome while keeping everyone safe,” said Megan Stiffler, the deputy national commander for the Urban Search and Rescue team,
The extinct volcano is a sacred Māori site and one of the most popular campgrounds in New Zealand, with a local holiday website describing it as a “slice of paradise”. But it has been repeatedly hit by landslides in recent years.
“I heard this huge tree crack and all this dirt come off, and then I looked behind me and there’s this huge landslide coming down,” Australian tourist Sonny Worrall told local broadcaster TVNZ.
“I’m still shaking from it now… I turned around and had to jump out of my seat and just run,”he added. He saw it happen while swimming in a hot pool.
Hiker Mark Tangney told the New Zealand Herald he heard people screaming from under the rubble. “So I just parked up and ran to help… We could hear people screaming: ‘Help us, help us, get us out of here’,” he said.
Those calls persisted for about half an hour and then went silent, Tangney said.
A surf club in another part of Mount Maunganui has been evacuated following fears of more landslides.
A state of emergency has been declared in the Bay of Plenty where Mount Maunganui sits, and various parts of the North Island, including Northland, Coromandel, Tairāwhiti and Hauraki.
Several areas reported their wettest days on record on Thursday. Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty, for example, received three months worth of rain within a day, according to local media.
Some 8,000 people were without power as of Thursday morning, Radio New Zealand (RNZ) reported.
The wife of a man who was swept away in the Mahurangi River is holding out hope that he will survive.
“I know his personality is strong, wise,” she told RNZ, adding that he was a fisherman back home in Kiribati and knew how to swim and dive.
The man, 47, was driving to work with their nephew when the car they were in fell into the river.
He had pushed the nephew towards a branch so the nephew could hoist himself onto land; but the older man did not manage get back up himself, according to the report.
“It’s been a very big event for us as a country, really hitting almost our entire eastern seaboard of the North Island,” said Minister for Emergency Management Mark Mitchell.
“The good news is that everyone responded really quickly, and there was time to get prepared. That helps to mitigate and create a very strong response,” he told RNZ.
December to February are typically the sunnier months in New Zealand but in recent years heavy rains and storms have become more frequent.
In February 2023, parts of the island were devastated by Cyclone Gabrielle, which is to date the costliest cyclone to hit the Southern Hemisphere, with damage amounting to NZ$13.5bn ($7.9bn; £5.9bn).
This week’s flooding has added to the toll for the local communities that are still rebuilding.
[BBC]
Following a difficult Ashes tour, what is left of Bazball ran into an old-fashioned spin-bowling choke in Colombo. There were glimmers of brilliance from England in a chase of 272. But four Sri Lanka spinners, sharing six wickets between them, won through comfortably in the end.
Despite measured 60s from both Joe Root and Ben Duckett, England fell 19 runs short, their run rate having stayed below five an over for the majority of the run-chase. And so England, who had made attacking batting their brand for several years now, delivered the kind of insipid batting performance reminiscent of their woes in South Asia in decades gone by.
The likes of Dunit Wellalage and Jeffrey Vandersay would prosper on a dry Khettarama track, but it was Sri Lanka’s sensible batting that had laid the groundwork for this victory. Kusal Mendis’ 93 not out off 117 was the backbone of the innings, with Janith Liyanage punching out a helpful 46, and Wellalage producing the finishing fillip, hitting 25 not out off 12 balls.
Their 271 for 6 was merely a good total, rather than an imposing one. But then Khettarama is a notoriously difficult venue at which to chase. Though Jamie Overton’s late hitting gave England a sliver of hope, Sri Lanka had the match mostly trussed up at 40 overs, England needing to score at more than 10 an over at that stage, with four wickets in hand.
Overton could still potentially have stolen victory in the final over, off which England needed 20. But he turned down a single first ball, and then holed out trying to clear the infield off the next one.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 271 for 6 in 50 overs (Kusal Mendis 93*, Janith Liyanage 46; Adil Rashid 3-44) beat England 252 in 49.2 overs (Ben Duckett 62, Joe Root 61, Jamie Overton 34; Pramod Madushan 3-39, Dunith Wellalage 2-41, Jeffrey Vandersay 2-39 ) by 19 runs
[Cricinfo]
Alleged drug kingpin and ex-Olympian Ryan Wedding arrested after years on the run
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