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ScorecardMoeen Ali made Worcestershire’s first Championship double hundred in nearly four years•PA Photos

Moeen Ali’s first double-century for Worcestershire heaped scoreboard pressure on a fast disintegrating Glamorgan in Division Two match at New Road.The 26-year-old left hander’s career-best 250, accumulated from 367 balls in a little over eight hours, put his side in the happy position of declaring at 505 for 7 after losing the toss on the first morning.Glamorgan immediately lurched into trouble, losing two wickets in 20 overs before tea and three more in the final session before closing the second day at 164 for 5, still 192 short of making the hosts bat again.Worcestershire always felt they could get something out the pitch and their seam trio of Alan Richardson, Chris Russell and Jack Shantry successfully put the theory into practice.Recalled keeper Ben Cox held two catches, Ben Wright and Marcus North were bowled after making some headway and Matt Pardoe sprawled forward at short midwicket to take a bat-pad chance from Stewart Walters.It was only in the last hour that Jim Allenby, unbeaten with 56 from 72 balls, checked their momentum with support from captain Mark Wallace.Earlier, a shoal of statistics gathered around Moeen as he added 95 to his overnight score of 155 before Dean Cosker claimed his wicket when a tired-looking shot found Mike Reed a few yards inside the boundary rope at long-off.By then he had leapfrogged all of his rivals in the race to be first to 1,000 first-class runs this season. Now on 900, he is 11 ahead of England’s Joe Root. A slow surface was made for a batsman intent on playing a long innings, although his performance was not entirely flawless with several shots skewing off the outside edge to the third man area.But the bottom line could not be questioned when he departed with 26 fours and two sixes to his name. Having posted Worcestershire’s first double-hundred in the Championship for nearly four years, he went on to match Graeme Hick, Glenn Turner and Don Kenyon in becoming the fourth player to make 250 or more for the county on the New Road ground.Nothing much went right for Glamorgan’s bowlers when Worcestershire resumed with 322 for 3 on the board from the first day. First they were held up for more than hour by Shantry, the nightwatchman making 32 out of a stand of 70, and even when three wickets tumbled in a dozen balls, they were knocked by a stand of 101 between Moeen and Cox.Cosker emerged with most credit. After conceding 22 runs in his first two overs on Thursday, he straightened out his figures with a return of 4 for 68.Apart from dismissing the two top scorers, Pardoe and Moeen, the left-arm spinner took wickets in successive overs, holding a return catch from Shantry and trapping Championship debutant Tom Fell for a first-ball duck.

Match abandoned
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Rain had the final say in Edgbaston•AFP

The famously fickle English weather hadn’t hurt the Champions Trophy much over its first six days, but struck in the crucial trans-Tasman match to leave Australia and New Zealand with split points. New Zealand were 51 for 2 after 15 overs in their chase of 244 when play was interrupted, and couldn’t resume.It is hard to tell whether either team will be happy with the split points. New Zealand were in a marginally worse position in the match, and the point from here means even a washout in their final league game could be enough to take them to the elimination rounds. Australia, having lost their first game, will probably be more aggrieved. They got their first point of the campaign but could still be out before they play their next, and final, match if England and New Zealand win the other two games in the group.The solitary point didn’t brighten Australia’s mood on a day which had begun on a dismal note as their regular opener David Warner was stood down from the match after news emerged of an altercation with an England player in a Birmingham bar over the weekend.Things worsened for them after the match got underway as Shane Watson, Australia’s most dangerous batsman and one of only two players in the side to have played more than 50 ODIs, was caught behind in the second over. Soon after, Phillip Hughes was run-out, caught short by an underarm flick from Martin Guptill.In walked George Bailey, the stand-in captain who seems to get scant respect despite a solid start to his one-day career, and he set about righting the innings with Matthew Wade, who was promoted to the top of the order to replace Warner. Their 64-run stand wasn’t the most exciting to watch but against a disciplined New Zealand attack which thrived despite not getting much movement on a cloudy day, it steadied the early jitters.When talk turns to the causes for optimism in New Zealand, it usually centres on the promising pace attack that has emerged. Tim Southee had an off day, and Mitchell McClenaghan continued to hoover up wickets – his fourth four-wicket haul in nine ODIs so far – but the biggest impact was made by New Zealand’s spinners on a slowing track at Edgbaston.Daniel Vettori, passed fit after struggling with his long-standing Achilles tendon problem, was his usual accurate self, not turning it big but slipping in the arm ball to keep the batsmen guessing. Nathan McCullum, the Man of the Match in the tense win against Sri Lanka, also proved hard to hit and he got the wickets of both Wade and Bailey at crucial junctures. Kane Williamson, a part-timer who is being increasingly used by New Zealand, bowled almost unchanged from the 29th over till the end of the innings, and his figures were dented only by a Glenn Maxwell onslaught in the penultimate over. All three bowled out their full quota, and their 30 overs was the most spin New Zealand have ever been sent down in an ODI.Bailey played a series of crisp, uncomplicated drives down the ground against the quicks, but even he had trouble against the slower bowlers, making only 14 off 37 deliveries from Vettori. It was Adam Voges, another man who has had to wait a long time to get an extended run for Australia, who provided the impetus after the spinners choked the runs early on.Voges nearly chipped a return catch to Nathan McCullum when on 2, and watchfully worked the singles after that, only opening out once the quick bowlers came back. Southee was driven for consecutive fours as he searched for swing, and McClenaghan was guided to fine leg for successive fours as well. More than those fours it was the steady singles that pushed the innings along, with Voges limiting the number of dot balls.Bailey and Voges put on 77 to give Australia a launchpad, before Bailey was bowled trying to work the ball to the on side by moving across, before the batting Powerplay. Australia couldn’t hit top gear as McCullum and Williamson kept things tight, and Voges fell soon after the Powerplay to a full toss that he miscued to short cover. It was left to Maxwell to throw his bat around at the death to lift Australia to 243, a score which should have test New Zealand on a surface where stroke-making was proving difficult.The rain allowed only an hour of the chase, by when New Zealand had lost both their openers, but with neither team having taken a firm grip on the game.

ScorecardVikram Solanki produced the most dominating batting of the match•Getty Images

Warm sunshine, wonderful setting and a former international batsman making the sure-footed, seldom in doubt century that turned Surrey’s slim advantage into a position of strength. And all Ricky Ponting needed to do for most of the day was watch from the sidelines.At 37, Vikram Solanki is one of those veterans whose move to The Oval has earned Surrey criticism from a number of directions – not because the former Worcestershire player is a poor signing, by any means, but for the fact his arrival, and that of others, may have blocked the progress of home grown talent.Well, whatever the rights and wrongs of Surrey’s recruitment policy, watching Solanki in prime form has never been anything less than a pleasure. And in terms of what the acting captain’s first hundred in these colours could do for his new county, the hierarchy must feel he is worth every penny.Surrey are without a win in the Championship, and the odds are against them breaking their duck here with only a day remaining. But this was the sort of dominating performance which they were expected to produce on a regular basis in 2013 – and it ought to do wonders for their confidence for the rest of the campaign.In fairness to Sussex, who have lost their position as table-toppers to Yorkshire, the visitors enjoyed the best batting conditions of the match either side of tea when there was barely a cloud in the sky. And while the pitch remained slow, with the odd delivery still sticking in the surface, there was a clear invitation for Surrey to take control.Solanki, who played 51 one-day internationals for England and is currently leading this side because both Graeme Smith and Gareth Batty are injured, needed little encouragement. He had to find a supporting act, though, and, crucially, a perfect one presented itself in the shape of another middle order veteran, Zander de Bruyn.The pair added 177 for the fourth wicket, de Bruyn ending the day unbeaten and just one run short of his own century.Six members of the Sussex line-up had passed 30 on the second day of this game but only Mike Yardy reached 50. And when Surrey openers Rory Burns and Arun Harinath both perished when apparently established, the impression that batsmen could never consider themselves truly ‘in’ on this surface was strengthened.What is more, the dismissal of Ponting – squared up by fellow Australian Steve Magoffin and caught in the slips by Chris Jordan – for only 13 left the battle for first innings supremacy in the balance. Or so it seemed.Jordan, playing against his old county, Magoffin and Jimmy Anyon combined to produce a real threat. And had Jordan speared a yorker through Solanki’s defences early on, instead of seeing it dug out, it is anyone’s guess how the third day would have panned out. Instead, Surrey’s No. 3 was soon driving sumptuously, cutting firmly and taking the initiative away from the hosts.Having reached 50, Solanki pulled Jordan for another emphatic boundary, de Bruyn set about Monty Panesar’s left-arm spin and, for the first time in the match, a big partnership seemed probable rather than just possible.The century stand was sealed with the help of Solanki’s off-driven six against Chris Nash (he later pulled Anyon for another big ‘un) and his hundred came up with a gorgeous cover drive – one of 11 fours. A little punch of delight marked the milestone, then the captain went into overdrive, taking 30 more runs from 17 balls before holing out to long-on.That acceleration underlined Solanki’s belief that there could be some life left in a match which lost its first day to rain. And with de Bruyn staying around to supervise a final morning charge, there is hope for Surrey and a possible nervy survival battle for Sussex.”Once you get in it’s a reasonably good wicket but you have to work hard when you first some in,” said Solanki. “It was very pleasing to score my first first-class hundred for Surrey but more important was that we were able to get into a position where we might be able to exert some pressure on the final day.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
One more stump for picket fence in the backyard•BCCI

You can be hero and villain on the same night. Ask Amit Mishra and Ashish Reddy. Reddy scored a whirlwind 36 off 16 balls to help Sunrisers Hyderabad get 59 off the last four overs and give them something to bowl at. Mishra kept them alive with the wickets of Michael Hussey, M Vijay and Suresh Raina. However, Mishra, promoted to No.5, wasted 21 balls for just 15 runs, and dropped MS Dhoni even before he had opened the account. Reddy was given the last over to bowl with 15 to defend, and a now-rampaging Dhoni to face. Reddy completely froze, and bowled the most predictable slower balls imaginable for Dhoni to win it easily.Spared villainy was Dwayne Bravo who bowled length in the final overs to allow Reddy those runs, but more crucially batted like a rabbit in the headlights, manufacturing – as the IPL’s wont has been – a thriller out of nowhere. He played out a maiden from Karan Sharma – who registered this IPL’s most economical four-over figures of 0 for 8 – in the 16th over. Then he holed out on the bowling of Ishant Sharma for a near game-changing 7 off 16.The man who well and truly snatched heroism from villainy was Dhoni. He too began dozily, playing six dots before he top-edged Dale Steyn to long leg where Mishra missed him. How Dhoni made Sunrisers pay for it. Firstly, after Bravo’s maiden left Super Kings needing 46 off last four, Dhoni hit two sensational and consecutive pulled sixes off Steyn, who at times bowled at close to 150 kph. One over midwicket, and the other dragged from wide outside off to clear long-on. This was brutal hitting against the best bowler in the world.Bravo, though, turned it around again, and Sunrisers went to Steyn to bowl the 19th over with 27 runs to play with. Dhoni played another calculated over. Steyn bowled with third man and fine leg up to defend areas down the ground. Dhoni dabbed the first past short fine leg for two, and square-drove the second over point for four. The third one he slogged over deep midwicket. This was the first time Steyn was hit for three sixes in an IPL innings, and only the second time in any Twenty20 game.Steyn came back, though, with Ravindra Jadeja’s wicket, and left Super Kings needing 15 to win off the last over. Darren Sammy, the IPL debutant, was the only man who had bowled earlier on the night and had an over to go. Cameron White, though, went to Reddy. Perhaps he was thinking if this was Reddy’s evening, it might be his night too. It wasn’t.Reddy began with a back-of-the-hand slower ball that was almost off the pitch. He ran up again, and tried the same slower ball again. Dhoni missed, but it was not as though he had not picked it. Reddy had got lucky Dhoni didn’t connect. Reddy, though, tried it again, and Dhoni smacked it clean out of the ground. Eight off four now. Reddy was clearly nervous. He tried the normal yorker now, and missed his line by feet. Five wides. Hang on. Dhoni admits to having touched it. So three off four now becomes four off three. Dhoni pulled the next slower ball to beat long-on and bring the win that put Super Kings level with Royal Challengers Bangalore at the top of the table.Watching all this, Shikhar Dhawan would be wondering whatever happened to what should have been a special Sunrisers debut for him. He came out from a month in the cold storage, braved a blow in the unmentionables, scored a fifty to give Sunrisers a total to bowl at, but ended as a footnote on a night Dhoni went from 0 off 6 to 67 off 37.

Kevin Pietersen has been ruled out of all cricket for up to eight weeks by the knee injury which has been troubling him during the New Zealand tour. He will miss the deciding Test in Auckland, which starts on Friday, as well as the IPL with a view to him being fit for the Champions Trophy and the Ashes.The estimated recovery time makes Pietersen doubtful for the return series against New Zealand, beginning on May 16 at Lord’s. He first felt the problem, which could be caused by cartilage damage, during the warm-up match in Queenstown, although it only really came to light when he was absent for a session of the Dunedin Test. England were fielding at the time and it was played down as nothing serious. He made 0 and 12 in the first Test, and although he responded with 73 in Dunedin, he was never fluent but remained on the field.”Pietersen experienced knee pain while fielding in preparation for the four-day game in Queenstown earlier this month, ahead of the Test series,” the ECB said in a statement. “This has failed to resolve satisfactorily.”Recent scans confirm an injury to the right knee with bone bruising and possible cartilage damage to the kneecap. The 32-year-old will return to the UK for further investigations and specialist review.”The injury is likely to require ongoing assessments and a likely six-eight week period of rest and rehabilitation. Pietersen has therefore been withdrawn from all cricket including the Indian Premier League.”The fact Pietersen has not been kept on in New Zealand with the series at stake shows that time is already of the essence to get him ready for the main events of the English season. In 2009 he was forced out mid-way through the Ashes series with a career-threatening Achilles injury.Pietersen’s withdrawal will mean a likely recall to the middle order for Jonny Bairstow, the Yorkshire batsman who has not played since the Twenty20 series earlier in the tour. His previous Test was against India, in Mumbai, when he stood in for Ian Bell who went home for the birth of his child.It won’t be the first time Bairstow has replaced Pietersen in a Test line-up. He came in for the deciding match against South Africa, at Lord’s, last year following Pietersen’s dropping after the text-message controversy. Baristow responded with scores of 95 and 54. In five Tests he has scored 196 runs at 32.66.England will now be sweating on the fitness of two key players over the next two months. Graeme Swann is currently in the early stages of his recovery from elbow surgery after he was ruled out of the New Zealand tour on the morning of the first Test.

ScorecardA storming final day lifted Tasmania from the bottom rungs of the Sheffield Shield table to the top, their victory over a free-falling Victoria handing the Tigers a third consecutive appearance in the final and the priceless advantage of hosting it.Set 337 to win and host the final themselves after leading the table for much of the summer, the Bushrangers lost their wickets in two clumps either side of an 80-run stand between David Hussey and Peter Handscomb. James Faulkner again showed his knack for vital wickets, claiming five as Tasmania maintained their standing as the most consistent domestic side in the country.Tasmania had a stiff task ahead of them at the start of the day to achieve a result on a good pitch, but bold innings by the youngster Jordan Silk – a century in only his second Shield appearance – and Ricky Ponting allowed captain George Bailey to declare for the second time in the match.They ultimately won with more than 10 overs to spare, before Queensland’s win over Western Australia in Perth ensured the final would be played between the Tigers and the Bulls for the second season in a row, only this time in Hobart rather than Brisbane.

Match facts

February 23, 2013
Start time 2pm (0100 GMT)

Big Picture

Whatever lessons the five limited-overs matches between New Zealand and England have taught us so far, the most glaring seems to concern that most nebulous of concepts, momentum. So far, whichever team the Big Mo has lined up behind, their almost instantaneous response has been to stumble to defeat. Four of the matches have resulted in hefty thrashings – though it seems fair to note that England have handed out three of them – and New Zealand will have to maintain the trend for bouncebackability if they are to avoid defeat in two formats in the run-up to what will likely be an exacting Test series.As with the T20s, the one-day series will go down to the final match. A rusty England lost control during the last ten overs of both innings in Hamilton but had hit their stride by the time the teams got to Napier. They still haven’t worked out how best to bowl to Brendon McCullum, though, and the return to form of Ross Taylor is important for New Zealand cricket as a whole. Their main problem in the ODIs has been taking wickets early in the innings: England’s Test-hardened top three blunting the effect of two white balls, and Tim Southee might have to be rushed back to new-ball duty a little quicker than anticipated in Auckland.If they do manage to ruffle England’s top three, it will only hasten Joe Root’s return to the middle – something Taylor has admitted wouldn’t be ideal either. Were Root the hero of a Jane Austen novel, right now he would be struggling to move for society belles petitioning for a turn on the dance floor. Root’s composed Test debut last year brought many admiring glances but his dashing one-day form has really set hearts aflutter. The one person left chewing his lip is Ashley Giles, who has seen his list of Champions Trophy selection issues grow by one; and not only has Root’s form raised the question of what happens when the rested Kevin Pietersen returns to the squad, it has had the knock-on effect of limiting time in the middle for Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes, the two players most in need of chances to impress. Although, if it means England securing a first ODI series win over New Zealand since 1994, Giles probably won’t complain.

Form guide

New Zealand LWLWW (Completed matches, most recent first)
England WLWLL

In the spotlight

BJ Watling was one of the few New Zealand batsmen to come out of the Test series in South Africa with any credit but he has since scored 86 runs in five ODI innings and is struggling for form after being promoted to opener in place of the discarded Rob Nicol. Facing a bowler as good as James Anderson (or Dale Steyn) is among the harder tasks for any opener but Watling is now also the senior man, after the injury to Martin Guptill. The stilted start he and Hamish Rutherford made in Napier undermined New Zealand’s chances, and cosying up to the eight-ball in the hope that McCullum will bail the side out is not a strategy for the long term.Of the England players that came into the ODI side after a decent layoff, only Graeme Swann has failed to slip back into a groove. The experience of bowling in a Test in India is someway removed from one-day cricket in New Zealand but, after James Tredwell’s recent stalwart displays as understudy, most would have expected Swann to return with his usual ebullience and restate his seniority. That has not quite happened and, although his displays have not been poor, he only has the wicket of the No. 8 Nathan McCullum to his name so far. One more will take him to 100 in ODIs and it is rare that Swann stays flat for long.

Team news

Hamish Rutherford will double his tally of ODI caps after Guptill was sent for surgery on a thumb problem and New Zealand could turn to Colin Munro to strengthen the batting further down the order. Trent Boult would be the most likely to make way, with Munro and Kane Williamson capable of filling in with the ball.New Zealand (probable) 1 BJ Watling, 2 Hamish Rutherford, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Grant Elliott, 6 Brendon McCullum (capt & wk), 7 Colin Munro, 8 James Franklin, 9 Nathan McCullum, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Kyle MillsWith the series on the line, England are unlikely to make any unforced changes. The rise of Root has further limited Jonny Bairstow’s chances and while Giles might be tempted to have a look at James Harris, this is probably not the occasion to bring in a debutant.England (probable) 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Ian Bell, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Joe Root, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Chris Woakes, 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 James Anderson, 11 Steven Finn

Pitch and conditions

Eden Park is notable for its short straight boundaries and England got their geometry right during the T20 there earlier in the month, hitting 15 sixes in a record total. The drop-in pitch and a warm, cloudless day could lead to another high-scoring game.

Stats and trivia

• Brendon McCullum has overtaken Martin Crowe and Craig McMillan during this series to sit fourth on New Zealand’s ODI run-scorers’ list with 4796. He needs 86 to go past Chris Cairns, but in 19 one-day innings at Eden Park, he averages 21.18 with one fifty.
• Six years ago in Auckland, New Zealand scored 340 to win batting second against Australia – at the time the second-highest chase in one-dayers. They knocked it down to third two days later in Hamilton.
• England have won four of their last five ODIs at the ground, stretching back to 1992.
• Joe Root has scored at least 30 in each of his first six ODI knocks – the first man ever to do so.

Quotes

“There’s a lot of emotions going through your mind and body. With what’s gone on it was nice to know I can still bat.”
“That’s the idea really. You rest, so that you’re fresh when you come back in and it’s important you perform when you do that.”

After the uncertainty surrounding their participation in the tournament and the venue of their matches, Pakistan began their Women’s World Cup campaign promisingly, but it did not last. They restricted Australia to 175 at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, but their batsmen did not make it even halfway to the target.Despite the World Cup being held in India, the favourites to win are defending champions England, New Zealand and Australia. While India have the underdog billing, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are rank outsiders. While Sri Lanka upset England to state they are not here to make up the numbers, Pakistan started positively but their challenge fizzled out against Australia’s experience and tactics.Neither captain expected a high-scoring affair on a low and slow wicket, and when Pakistan had reduced Australia to 99 for 6 in the 29th over, they would have been hoping for a win against the odds. The tail, however, came to Australia’s rescue, as it does consistently. Sarah Coyte’s unbeaten 35 at No. 9 ensured Australia made it past 170.”Our team bats from 1 to 11. We are quite confident about that,” Jodie Fields, Australia’s captain, said. “As Sarah came out and had a partnership lower down the order, just proves that our batting depth is great. I knew that if we got closer to 175, we could bowl to it.”Once they got to the desired total, Australia’s all-round bowling performance helped them win without much difficulty. While the Australian bowlers stuck to their plan of”bowling straight”, Pakistan’s batters played too many rash strokes.”It was a case of poor shot selection from our batters,” the Pakistan captain Sana Mir said. “After we lost early wickets, I would say when I got out, I think that was the turningpoint. We have to be more disciplined, we have to be responsible, because we couldn’t capitalise on all the hard work done by the bowlers.”The pitch was keeping low, no doubt about that. But there is no excuse for this kind of performance [with the bat]. I hold myself responsible.”Mir, however, took positives from her team’s bowling and fielding effort, which produced in four run-outs. “I think this has been our best bowling performance till date against a top opponent like Australia,” she said. “The performance we produced with the ball and in the field is really encouraging. If we can restrict Australia, we can restrict anyteam … be it New Zealand or any other.”While Australia will need to improve their batting against South Africa at the DRIEMS Ground on Sunday, Pakistan will hope to challenge New Zealand at the Barabati. And it being a Sunday, the Odisha Cricket Association will hope the security personnel don’t outnumber the spectators in the stands, like they did today.

Australia Women batsman Leah Poulton has announced her retirement from ODI cricket. She will, however, continue to be available for the national Twenty20 squad.”I’ve been really lucky to have played with some greats of the game, such as Karen Rolton and Shelley Nitschke,” Poulton said. “When I first started playing, I looked up to those players and I was lucky enough to eventually play alongside them and learn a great deal from them.”Poulton said she is looking forward to concentrating on T20 cricket for the next few years. “A few years ago T20 cricket really invigorated my love for the game and if it hadn’t been for T20, I may have retired sooner. I still enjoy T20 cricket today as much as I did when it first came along.”Poulton, 28, made her ODI debut in 2006 in the Rose Bowl series and represented Australia in 48 matches. She scored 1033 runs in her career, including two centuries and four fifties. Apart from ODIs, she has also played two Tests and 40 T20 matches.

Allrounder Jacob Oram has been released early from his central contract by New Zealand Cricket (NZC) after an agreement was reached by both parties. Oram said he could no longer make “a full-time commitment to NZC” and would continue playing Twenty20 cricket for Central Districts and in various competitions around the world.”Various factors have led me to make this decision including my age, the stage of my career and the impending birth of my second child,” Oram said. “I really enjoy the Twenty20 format and see it as a way to stay involved in cricket for a while longer.””I have loved every minute I have been fortunate enough to play for my country but the time has come for me to prioritise other areas of my life. Fortunately as a professional cricketer I can continue to play some T20 cricket as I transition into the next phase of my life. If the timing was right, and my form and fitness warranted selection, then I would definitely be available to play T20 cricket for my country but I have absolutely no expectations of NZC in that regard.”Oram last played for New Zealand as recently as their tour of Sri Lanka in October and November, appearing in one ODI and the only Twenty20 international.NZC chief executive David White said the board respected Oram’s wishes and appreciated his situation. “A NZC Playing Agreement has significant obligations on players and requires a full-time commitment and focus on playing for New Zealand. Form and fitness permitting, the selectors may well consider him for matches or events in the future. However, that said, it is appropriate for me to thank Jacob for his excellent contribution to New Zealand Cricket over the past 12 years.”Oram made his ODI debut for New Zealand in January 2001 and played his first Test the following year. During a career frequently interrupted by injury, Oram played 160 ODIs, 33 Tests and 36 Twenty20s.