New Zealand captain Tim Southee described Kane Williamson as "world-class" after he led them to a dramatic final-ball win against Sri Lanka in the first Test at the Hagley Oval.

After rain delays on the final day on Monday, the hosts eventually began play on 28-1, needing a further 257 runs to win from 52 overs.

That effectively turned the innings into one more akin to an ODI, and both teams approached it as such

Williamson, who was dismissed for just one in the first innings, was the fulcrum for the chase as he hit 121 from 194 balls, with various partners showing more aggression after opener Tom Latham had fallen for 24.

Williamson and Daryl Mitchell (81 from 86) put on 142 for the fourth wicket, before Asitha Fernando (3-63) started taking wickets to set up a tense ending.

New Zealand still needed eight runs from the final over with just three wickets remaining, with Matt Henry then run out from the third ball.

With the last delivery of the match, Williamson and the injured Neil Wagner desperately ran through a bye to win it, with the former only getting his bat in marginally as Sri Lanka produced a direct hit at the stumps at the non-striker's end.

"Seeing how calm Kane is out in the middle keeps us calm as well," Southee said after the win. "He's a world-class player and world-class players are able to perform in different conditions.

"The guys were very trusting in what he was going to do and, alongside Daryl, for most of the day it was a great partnership that got us in that great position."

The defeat for Sri Lanka meant they were unable to qualify for the ICC World Test Championship final, with India taking that spot against Australia.

It gave the Black Caps their third-highest successful chase in Test cricket (285), and their second remarkable Test win in recent weeks after the one-run victory against England last month.

The second Test in Wellington gets underway on Friday.

New Zealand produced strong resistance on day three of the second Test against England in Wellington but remain 24 runs behind with seven wickets in hand at stumps on Sunday.

England enforced the follow-on after bowling out the Black Caps in the first session, with the hosts having resumed at 138-7 following the tourists' first innings score of 435-8 declared.

New Zealand openers Tom Latham (83) and Devon Conway (61) batted through 19 overs to lunch and then through the entire second session to bring the contest back to life.

But the pair both lost their wickets to spin in the final session along with Will Young for 8 as New Zealand reached stumps 202-3, still behind by 24 runs.

Kane Williamson (25 not out) and Henry Nicholls (18 not out) will resume at the crease on day four, hoping to build a sizeable lead to help New Zealand have a shot at a series-levelling victory in the two-game Test series.

Earlier, Tim Southee smashed 73 from 49 balls to rescue New Zealand from a perilous state in their first innings, combining with Tom Blundell (38) for a 98-run eighth-wicket stand.

Southee's knock included six sixes and five fours, narrowing the gap on England's first innings score after Jimmy Anderson had decimated the batting line-up on day two.

Stuart Broad (4-61) claimed all three of the remaining first-innings wicket to hold a 226-run first-innings lead, before captain Ben Stokes opted to enforce the follow on, although he may have been regretting that with Latham and Conway putting on 149 runs for the first wicket.

Jack Leach dropped a tough one-handed caught-and-bowled chance from Latham on 62, before he got Conway caught from an inside edge by Ollie Pope at short leg.

Three overs later Joe Root's part-time spin trapped Latham lbw, with the shout holding up despite a review from the batsman.

Leach bowled Young cheaply, while he had Nicholls dropped by Pope at short leg on 4, before he and Williamson got through to stumps.

Williamson moves within NZ history

Kane Williamson needs only four runs on Monday to become New Zealand's outright all-time Test leading run scorer. Williamson moved to 7680 runs with his unbeaten 25, within three of Ross Taylor's record of 7683.

Taylor played 112 Tests to reach that mark, while 32-year-old Williamson has only needed 92 games. Stephen Fleming is third on the list with 7172 runs from 111 Tests.

Southee into top 10 for most sixes

New Zealand captain Southee is known for his bowling exploits but his swashbuckling knock included six maximums that saw him move equal 10th on the all-time list for most sixes in Test cricket alongside Andrew Flintoff and Matthew Hayden.

Southee, whose highest Test score is 77 not out, has 82 Test sixes, with the record held by opposition skipper Stokes at 109. Opposition coach and former teammate Brendon McCullum is second on the list with 107.

Sarfraz Ahmed believes his century on the final day of the second Test between Pakistan and New Zealand in Karachi was the best of his career.

It was not enough to secure what would have been an unlikely win, though, with stumps on day five agonisingly called for bad light despite the hosts being just 15 runs short of their target, while New Zealand only needed one more wicket for victory.

Pakistan had been struggling on 80-5 as they chased a target of 319, but Sarfraz's terrific knock of 118 was ably supported by Saud Shakeel (32), who later added another partnership of 70 with Agha Salman (30) to almost take the win before the umpires called it with Pakistan on 304-9.

It was the fourth hundred of Sarfraz's Test career, justifying the decision to call him back into the team for this series, and he said after the draw: "Definitely I have more hundreds, but this was [my] fourth innings hundred and in the fourth innings. It is not easy to bat anywhere in the world, so I think this is my best hundred."

Sarfraz has an average of 38.85 from 51 Test appearances since his debut in 2010, and is just eight runs short of 3,000 as he ended the series with a total of 335 runs from four innings.

"I have been there with the team for four years and unfortunately I did not get a chance," he added. "But whatever cricket came my way, my effort was to keep playing my game and keep giving performances and if Allah wants then I would get an opportunity and I did get an opportunity.

"My state of mind wasn't very good when I came to bat the first time [in the series]. I was very tense, there was a lot of nerves. But the captain gave me a lot of confidence and the boys in the team gave me a lot of confidence. I backed my form from domestic cricket and had a good performance."

Michael Bracewell took 4-75, including the vital wickets of Sarfraz and Shakeel as New Zealand looked to close in on a win that would have secured them the series, which ended tied as both Tests culminated in draws.

Black Caps captain Tim Southee was in reflective mood, though, and praised Sarfraz for his defiance with the bat.

"We got ourselves to push for a win, but the way Sarfraz played sort of took the game away from us," he said. "It was a funny game, we saw in the end it was still up for grabs. 

"We knew from the nature of the surface that things could happen late in the Test, Sarfraz was probably the difference, we could've won had we got them [out] earlier."

Kane Williamson has stepped down as New Zealand's Test captain and will be replaced by Tim Southee, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) announced on Wednesday.

Captain in the Test format since 2016, Williamson has won 22 of his 38 matches as Black Caps skipper, ranking second all-time in victories behind Stephen Fleming.

Williamson led the team to victory in the ICC World Test Championship final last year when they defeated India by eight wickets in England.

The 32-year-old has struggled with an elbow injury of late and he has not scored a century since January 2021 against Pakistan.

The decision comes with Williamson reportedly wanting to manage his workload, though he will continue to captain the team in T20I and ODI matches.

Southee is an experienced replacement, having played 346 internationals since making his New Zealand debut in 2008.

The fast bowler will become the Black Caps' 31st Test captain later on this month when his team's tour to Pakistan begins.

Opener Tom Latham will assume the role of vice-captain having previously deputised for Williamson during his injury absence.

Williamson feels it is the right time to step back from his role in the red-ball team, saying in the NZC's statement: "Captaining the BLACKCAPS in Test cricket has been an incredibly special honour.

"For me, Test cricket is the pinnacle of the game and I've enjoyed the challenges of leading the side in the format.

"Captaincy comes with an increased workload on and off the field and at this stage of my career I feel the time is right for this decision.

"After discussions with NZC, we felt that continuing to captain the white-ball formats was preferable with two World Cups in the next two years.

"I'm excited to support Tim [Southee] as captain and Tom [Latham] as vice-captain. Having played with both of them for most of my career, I'm confident they'll do a great job.

"Playing for the BLACKCAPS and contributing in all three formats is my number one priority and I'm looking forward to the cricket we have ahead."

David White, NZC CEO, added: "Kane is one of our all-time greats and our priority is to ensure he enjoys his cricket and plays for New Zealand for as long as possible.

"He's a brilliant leader and the success the team has achieved during his time in the longest and arguably toughest format of the game, has been nothing short of remarkable.

"Statistically, he's the most successful Test captain we've ever had – which culminated in the team rising to the number one ICC Test ranking at the start of 2021 and the eventual victory in the ICC World Test Championship Final in June that year."

Southee spoke of his pride at being named the new captain, declaring: "It's been a surreal few days and it’s just a massive honour to be appointed as Test captain.

"Kane's been an outstanding Test captain and I'm looking forward to working with Gary [Stead, New Zealand head coach] on how we can build on that."

New Zealand get their tour to Pakistan underway on December 26, when the first Test starts in Karachi.

A magnificent stand from Tom Latham and Kane Williamson sealed a seven-wicket win for New Zealand over India in the first ODI of the series at Eden Park.

Shreyas Iyer (80 off 76 balls), captain Shikhar Dhawan (72) and Shubman Gill (50) made half-centuries as the tourists posted an imposing 306-7 in Auckland on Friday.

Tim Southee (3-73) and Lockie Ferguson (3-59) were the pick of the bowlers for the Black Caps, who then showed why they are top of the rankings in the 50-over format with a brilliant run chase.

It was advantage India after Umran Malik (2-66) struck twice on his debut to leave New Zealand 88-3 in the 20th over, but an unbroken partnership of 221 from Latham and Williamson secured a resounding win with 17 balls to spare.

Latham made a sublime unbeaten 145 off 104 balls and skipper Williamson 94 not out as the Blacks Caps made a strong response to their T20I series loss to India.

Dhawan and Gill laid a great platform with a century stand, but both openers fell with 124 on the board before Ferguson cleaned Rishabh Pant and also got rid of Suryakumar Yadav cheaply.

Iyer struck four sixes and as many fours, while Washington Sundar (37 off 16) provided late impetus and Sanju Samson chipped in with 36.

Umran had Devon Conway caught behind and saw the back of Daryl Mitchell after Finn Allen fell to Shardul Thakur, but that was as good as it got for India as Latham and Williamson took the game away from them.

The experienced duo steadied the ship and then started to motor, with India - missing a host of regulars - unable to halt the flow of runs, Arshdeep Singh going for 68 from 8.1 overs on his ODI bow.

Yet another milestone for Southee

It was another memorable day for New Zealand paceman Southee, who became only the fifth New Zealand bowler to take 200 ODI wickets.

He moved above Chris Cairns to go fourth on the list of the Black Caps' leading wicket-takers in this format.

Southee is also the first player to take 300 Test wickets, claim 200 ODI scalps and 100 T20I dismissals.

Latham and Williamson put on a show

The game was in the balance when Latham came in at number five to join his skipper at the crease.

It had soon swung firmly in New Zealand's favour courtesy of brilliant knocks from such a consistent duo that have delivered time and again over the years.

Wicketkeeper-batter Latham raced to his seventh ODI century off only 76 balls, ending up with five sixes and another 19 boundaries. The composed and classy Williamson registered a staggering 40th ODI half-century.

James Anderson picked up his 650th Test wicket as England set up a push for victory in the second Test with New Zealand.

Joe Root set the tone on Monday by reverse scooping his second ball against Tim Southee for six, with England looking to score quickly to overturn an 80-run deficit.

Root fell on 176 shortly after, caught at cover off Trent Boult's bowling, while Stuart Broad (nine) followed to Michael Bracewell and Ben Foakes was run out after posting 56.

Boult completed his 10th five-wicket Test haul by bowling Matthew Potts (three) before Bracewell (3-62) dismissed Anderson (nine), with England all out for 539 – only trailing by 14 runs.

Anderson made a bright start as Tom Latham (four) left a straight one to hand the seamer his landmark dismissal, before Will Young and Devon Conway steadied the ship.

Conway's resistance ended when he fell for 52, caught attempting to sweep Jack Leach (1-78), before Henry Nicholls (three) directed a wide Potts ball to Alex Lees at gully.

England were boosted when a mix-up saw Young (56) run out, which brought Tom Blundell together with Daryl Mitchell, the pair who shared 236 in the first innings.

Blundell was then caught off a Stuart Broad (1-53) bouncer on 24, while Bracewell made a brisk 25 before being removed by Potts (2-32) and Southee (nought) was another to be needlessly run out.

Mitchell finished unbeaten on 32 alongside Matt Henry (eight not out), with New Zealand on 224-7, leading by 238 to tee up an enticing final day where all four results are possible. 

Awesome Anderson

Anderson shows no sign of relenting in the twilight days of his incredible career, picking up his 650th scalp in red-ball internationals.

Only Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Shane Warne (708), both spinners, have taken more Test wickets than the England seamer across his 19-year international career.

Sorry Southee

Unlike the excellent Boult, who posted 5-106, seaming partner Southee struggled in Nottingham. He failed to grab a wicket from his 32 overs, bowling just one maiden and conceding 154 runs.

Southee became just the fifth New Zealand bowler to concede 150-plus runs without a wicket in an innings, while his wicketless figures were the most expensive in a men's Test match at Trent Bridge.

New Zealand paceman Tim Southee says England "won't die wondering" under his former team-mate Brendon McCullum.

McCullum was this month appointed as England Test head coach on a four-year deal.

It will be the ex-Black Caps captain's first international coaching role and he has been charged with the task of turning around the fortunes of a side in poor form.

England are bottom of the World Test Championship and have not won any of their past five series, a dismal run that resulted in Joe Root stepping down as captain and Ben Stokes replacing him.

New Zealand will attempt to make it a painful start to McCullum's tenure in the first Test at Lord's, which starts on Thursday, but Black Caps quick Southee thinks the 40-year-old can make a big impact.

He said: "It's exciting, obviously a great challenge for Brendon. I know him pretty well. Everything he does, he gives it a 100 per cent, so this will be no different.

"He's excited about the next wee while and what lays ahead of him. I'm sure he'll be doing everything he can to bring the best out of this England Test side. He's a great man-manager and he loves to try to get the best out of people.

"I'm sure he'll be doing that here as well. The way he played his cricket was exciting and fearless, and that's the way he is a person and I'm sure that's the way he is as a coach as well.

"It will be an exciting brand of cricket, I'm sure. They [England] won't die wondering I'd imagine if the way he goes about things is anything to go by."

New Zealand won the World Test Championship in England last year, but drew their past two series against Bangladesh and South Africa.

They have had changes of their own with Ross Taylor and BJ Watling retiring, but Southee is optimistic they can show their class in London.

He said: "It's very important, dropping a couple of Test matches in our home summer puts a little bit extra on this series. But our focus is the first five days here at Lord's, then we shift on to the second Test and the third. As a group, we try to play what's in front of us, attack it one Test at a time.

"We've been lucky that we've had a pretty consistent group of guys for a long period of time. Those two guys, BJ and Ross, have been massive parts of the side for such a long time, they're obviously big holes to fill.

"But we've got guys who have been playing some pretty good cricket and waiting in the wings for a while. Tom Blundell's had glimpses, played the last year and made some pretty handy contributions and the likes of Devon Conway and Will Young have impressed in their short international careers so far."

New Zealand are on the ropes after a top-order collapse handed the County Select XI the initiative in the Blackcaps' final warm-up match before the first Test against England.

ICC World Test Championship-winning New Zealand posted 362 in their first innings at Chelmsford before declaring, with the County Select XI managing 247 in response – a deficit of 115.

However, New Zealand were caught cold on Saturday as Jamie Porter (5-31) starred to reduce the visitors to 19-6, with Kane Williamson, Will Young and Tom Blundell all dismissed for nought.

Fellow top-order batters Tom Latham (four) and Devon Conway (five) struggled in similar fashion, before the lower order of Tim Southee (34), Neil Wagner (36) and Kyle Jamieson (36) dragged New Zealand to 148 all out.

The in-form Ben Compton, who is the leading run-scorer in the County Championship this season with 864 in six games for Kent, finished unbeaten on 56 from 145 balls as the County Select XI made a bright start to their chase of 264.

Former England opener Dom Sibley also made 34 before falling to Ajaz Patel (1-12), leaving Compton and Tom Haines (12 not out) at the crease, with the Country Select XI requiring a further 152 for victory on the fourth and final day.

New Zealand will then have three days' rest before opening their three-Test series against England at Lord's on Thursday, with new Test coach Brendon McCullum set to face his home country in his first game in charge.

The Kolkata Knight Riders ended a run of five consecutive losses in the Indian Premier League, with Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh impressing as they chased down the Rajasthan Royals for a seven-wicket win.

The Royals set a below-par target of 152-5 after top-order batsmen Jos Buttler (22) and Devdutt Padikkal (2) struggled to make headway early on, although captain Sanju Samson's half-century dragged them into contention.

Although Kolkata's own top-order fared little better as Baba Indrajith (15) and Aaron Finch (4) succumbed to early dismissals, Rana (48) and Rinku (42) fell narrowly short of half-centuries to end the Knight Riders' dire form.

Despite Samson's haul, the Royals have now fallen to back-to-back IPL defeats, missing the chance to go second in the standings with four matches remaining. 

Having won four of their last five coming into the contest, the Royals were put in to bat after Kolkata skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss, and made a nightmare start when losing Padikkal for just two runs.

Things went from bad to worse when Buttler, the IPL's leading batsman with 566 runs prior to Monday, was caught by Shivam Mavi for just 22, way down on his season average, in the ninth over.

Samson put in a talismanic captain's performance as his knock of 54 put the Royals in contention, but was caught by Rinku in the 18th over after Karun Nair (13) and Riyan Parag (19) were also sent packing.

The Knight Riders did not have it all their own way immediately when taking up the bat, losing Indrajith and Finch to Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Sen before the sixth over was through in a flat start.

However, Iyer's 34 set the tone for a vast improvement in the second half of Kolkata's innings, with Rana and Rinku's outstanding partnership leading them to what proved to be a routine win as the Royals paid the price for their errors with the bat.

Below-par Buttler sets the tone

Buttler has been key to the Royals' hopes after averaging 65.33 this season, hitting a magnificent century in a crushing win over the Delhi Capitals less than two weeks ago.

However, his dismissal at the ends of Tim Southee set the tone for a miserable outing for Buttler's side, with Southee adding the wicket of Parag in the 17th as Kolkata clinched a crucial victory.

Rana and Rinku combine in style

A five-match losing streak had left Kolkata stranded near the bottom of the IPL table, but Rana and Rinku combined for 90 in a brilliantly efficient display to drag the Knight Riders to an important win and lift them to seventh in the standings, within four points of the Royals.

New Zealand fought back brilliantly on day two of the first Test after India debutant Shreyas Iyer made a classy debut century in Kanpur.

India were all out for 345 on Friday after losing six wickets for 79 runs, Tim Southee (5-69) doing much of the damage as he claimed a 13th five-wicket Test haul.

Iyer made a superb 105 at Green Park and Ravindra Jadeja was out for 50, his overnight score, while Ravichandran Ashwin chipped in with 38.

India had been in a strong position when they resumed on 258-4, but the tourists hit back like the world Test champions that they are, Southee setting the tone and Ajaz Patel taking 2-90 after Kyle Jamieson struck three times on day one.

Will Young and Tom Latham then frustrated India by taking the Black Caps through to the close on 129-0.

Young – playing his first Test in India – was unbeaten on 75 and Latham reached 50, the openers demonstrating great temperament and technique.

Latham successfully reviewed after being given out leg before and caught behind to Jadeja and Ashwin respectively as India failed to make a breakthrough.

Young and Latham will resume on day three with New Zealand trailing by 216 as they eye a first Test victory in India for 33 years.

Dream debut for Iyer, Southee outstanding

Iyer got his chance with India missing the likes of captain Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma, and he grabbed it with both hands.

After striding to the crease on 75, the 26-year-old went on to become the first India batsman since Prithvi Shaw in October 2018 to make a hundred on his Test bow.

Iyer fell tamely when he was taken by Young off the bowling of Southee, who was outstanding as he bowled 11 overs unchanged in a brilliant spell during the opening session and was rewarded with another five-wicket haul.

Black Caps openers rock solid

A broken hand sustained by Devon Conway during the T20 World Cup opened the door for Young to partner Latham at the top of the order.

The right-hander gave another demonstration that he is very much at home on the Test stage, rock solid in defence and also playing positively as he crafted a second half-century in only his fourth match in the longest format.

Trusty left-hander Latham was watchful as he batted with great assurance to register a 21st Test half-century, with the openers making the India bowlers toil as they built a strong platform.

New Zealand have had little to time to dwell on their T20 World Cup final heartbreak as they prepare to face India in Jaipur on Wednesday.

The Black Caps missed out being crowned world champions in the shortest format for the first time when they suffered an eight-wicket defeat to Australia at Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.

A 15-man T20 squad arrived in Jaipur less than 24 hours after that loss and they will look to take their frustration out on India in a three-match series.

Tim Southee will captain New Zealand, with Kane Williamson missing the T20s as he prioritises preparing for a two-Test series that starts on November 25.

It is the beginning of a new era for India after Rahul Dravid replaced Ravi Shastri as head coach and Virat Kohli's reign as T20 captain came to an end.

Rohit Sharma leads India for this series as they look to put the disappointment of missing out on reaching the T20 World Cup semi-finals behind them, starting with a first men’s T20I at Sawai Mansingh Stadium.

Kohli misses the series along with Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami. Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Harshal Patel and Avesh Khan are among the players to come into the squad.

New Zealand hammered India by eight wickets in the World Cup, with the Black Caps having lost the previous five T20 matches between the two nations.

Black Caps set to rotate, Ferguson on the mend

Southee said such an intense schedule and spending so long in bio-secure bubbles has taken a toll on some Black Caps players, revealing how it "weighs you down".

The stand-in skipper suggested the tourists would make full use of their squad and paceman Lockie Ferguson is set to make a welcome return from a calf strain.

He said on Tuesday: "It's [squad rotation] something we have to look at throughout this series of three games in five days, with travel days in between and then a couple of days and then go into a Test series.

"The guys have to be managed throughout the series and we've got a squad of 15 here that were involved in the T20 World Cup which I'm sure we'll use throughout the T20 series."

Rohit wants 'fearless' approach

Rohit has never been afraid to take an aggressive approach and the skipper wants the side to take more risks with the bat at the start of a new era, with another T20 World Cup to come next year.

He said: "It's important, especially in this format, that sometimes you just need to go out there and play fearlessly and while doing that, there are chances that you might not always be successful, because it's a short format and you're always challenged.

"The pressure is always there. We certainly will keep an eye on that aspect; that's where the entire set-up will play a big part that wherever that individual bats, and how we want him to bat, goes and does the job for us. If he doesn't then we instil confidence in him that we have full faith in you, just go and do the role for the team. As long as they're trying to do the role for the team, we are happy."

Rohit has scored 352 T20I runs against New Zealand, more than any other India batsman. He made 174 runs in five World Cup knocks at an average of 34.80.