Auckland, Sept.27 : Left arm spinner Daniel Vettori was today confirmed as New Zealand's 26th Test captain when he was chosen to lead the New Zealand cricket team on next month's two-test tour to South Africa.

Vettori replaces Stephen Fleming, New Zealand's captain for the past decade, who was dropped from the position earlier this month after resigning the limited-overs captaincy. Fleming, however, retained his place in the 15-man test squad as a specialist batsman.

Karachi, Sept.26 : The South African cricket team arrived in Karachi on Wednesday to play two Test matches and five One-day Internationals against Pakistan.

Tight security measures were taken at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi on the arrival of the visiting team. Dozens of police officers including elite commandos were deployed at the airport. They surrounded the team as they left the Jinnah terminal building.

Mumbai, Sept 26 : It was a ceremony meant to facilitate Team India for winning the Twenty20 World Championship, but cricket virtually took a ‘back seat’ at the Wankhede Stadium here today, as no cricketer except skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was given a seat in the front row at the dais.

At the event, organised to celebrate a purely sporting achievement, the first row on the stage was dominated by politicians and officials of the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI), even as the hoarding in the background ‘loudly’ said “Congratulations Team India.”

Rohtak/New Delhi, Sept 25 : Relatives of Indian cricketers joined the celebrations on Tuesday as the nation erupted with joy after a thrilling win over archrivals Pakistan in the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship in Johannesburg in South Africa.

Medium pace bowler Joginder Sharma's family celebrated the victory at the cricketer's residence in Rohtak.

New Delhi, Sept 25 : India’s first and only Formula One (F1) driver Narain Karthikeyan today expressed confidence of doing well at the A1 GP, the World Cup of motorsports, to be held in the Netherlands on September 30.

Karthikeyan, who will race a brand new blue liveried car this season and spearhead Team India's challenge, said the team has realistic chances of winning a couple of races.

Islamabad, Sep 25: Former Pakistan cricket captain Intikhab Alam has said that they lost the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup final match because of the reckless shot played by Misbah ul-Haq at the fag end of the play.

“Misbah put Pakistan almost close to victory, but he played a reckless shot that helped India win. Still three balls were left and he should have played sensibly,” Intikhab said.