The big news: Pakistan pile up huge score

Pakistan declared their first innings at 579-3 after opener Azhar Ali scored his maiden triple hundred on day two of the first day-night Test against West Indies in Dubai on Friday. Ali remained unbeaten on 302, making him only the fourth Pakistani to score a triple hundred in Tests.

Test skipper Misbah-ul-Haq remained 29 not out while Babar Azam made 69 and Asad Shafiq scored 67. For West Indies, leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo finished with 2 wickets for 125 runs while, the other bowlers suffered. West Indies were on 69/1 with Kraigg Brathwaite and Darren Bravo at the crease. This is only the second ever day-night match in Test cricket after Australia and New Zealand featured in the first in Adelaide last year.

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  1. India’s Cheteshwar Pujara in an interview to Times of India heaped praises on coach Anil Kumble for backing his capabilities and also said that he enjoyed captain Virat Kohli’s confidence in him. “Anil bhai is someone who understands the players' psychology. He is very clear in what he wants from his players. He drew my attention to small details and told me what I should have been doing all these days.I cannot divulge anything more but I can say that the discussions with him did bring a change to my mindset and subsequently , there was a change in my intent,” said Pujara. 
  2. In a major boost for Ireland cricket, the International Cricket Council has awarded First-Class status to their domestic four-day competition, the Hanley Energy Inter-Provincial Championship. The ICC hass also elevated the country's T20 and 50-over competitions to List A following the ICC board meeting in Cape Town.
  3. England Cricket Board President Giles Clarke and International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Dave Richardson will help the Pakistan Cricket Board explore ways to boost the board's economy in the absence of home international matches. The decision was taken at the quarterly ICC board meeting at Cape Town on Friday.
  4. New Zealand’s Corey Anderson is looking to make a strong comeback into the squad in the first One-Day International against India on Sunday. Anderson, who was suffered an injury during the Indian Premier League last year, saw him miss crucial tours and Zimbabwe and South Africa. "It's one of those things... you have a decent chunk out [with injury] and you don't really want to sit out again. But I had to do it. It's part of the game, you have injuries," he said. "Doing that gives you time to reflect on things and see where you can get better. I've been basically working to get my fitness and strength up and not have a date in mind. It's just exciting to be back with the group and back in India." 
  5. Maharashtra’s Swapnil Gugale and Ankit Bawne demolished a 69-year-old record to amass an unbeaten 594-run partnership in their Ranji trophy clash against Delhi on Friday. Gugale and Bawne's batting marathon, which lasted for two days, is now the highest partnership in Ranji Trophy history. They broke a record that stood for 69 years, when Vijay Hazare and Gul Mahomed had slammed a 577-run stand for Baroda against Holkar in 1947. Maharashtra declared on 635/2 to leave Delhi with a pile of runs.