NZ's problem of the knockout punch

One of the most important issues New Zealand need to sort before the fourth ODI is their ability to shut the opposition out after getting to a strong position

New Zealand need to guard against complacency once they find themselves in a dominant position

Not many would have bet on New Zealand beating India in three successive matches. The ODI in Auckland showed one of the reasons why. Few top sides would have allowed the opposition to come within one shot of winning from 184 for 6 in a chase of 315. New Zealand had a golden chance to finish the series in Auckland but blew it spectacularly. And for all their recent resurgence and Brendon McCullum's confident vibes at press conferences, it is this failure to deliver the knockout blow that they have to weed out.

New Zealand almost gave the impression that they were pleased at having tied the Auckland match, when it actually had been theirs to lose for a considerable period. McCullum even said they had done reasonably with the ball and on the field, when they had actually allowed what had been a long tail in the first two games to all but run away with the match.

"I think we are obviously proud of the way we are playing at the moment and the characteristics that we are showing in some of the cricket we are playing is very good," McCullum said. "They are the expectations we have of ourselves. We don't always live up to them. We are starting to see a team that is growing in confidence.

"We executed our blueprint pretty well for a majority of it. We lost our way for a little bit. In the field and with the ball we were okay, so from that point of view, I hope it sends the message that New Zealand is starting to get there as a one-day team and can really compete against big nations. We just need to keep backing it up and do it consistently."

Kane Williamson felt New Zealand had been "calm" in tough situations against quality players.

"When you play a world-class side like that, you know what they are capable of. You can sometimes let go and they will get away from you at times," Williamson said. "You get a wicket and you pull it back and for some reason, you can be quite calm in that situation. And I think we were and I think we have been in the last few games.

"It's an important lesson to take forward into the next two games because I think in tougher times, you have world-class players that can take the game away from you but if they get dismissed, whether they score a hundred or not, you have every chance of winning the game. The likes of Virat and Dhoni are extremely dangerous players but if you can get them out, especially chasing, you can defend anything."

New Zealand sent back both Kohli in the 15th over and Dhoni by the 36th over in Auckland. Yet, had Ravindra Jadeja managed to connect the last ball better, New Zealand would have failed in their defence of a substantial score. This is not to run down what has been a performance way above expectations against the world champions. New Zealand did manage to hold out a stiff counter from India in both Napier and Hamilton.

But as Jadeja and R Ashwin went after them in Auckland, they cracked.

Their fielding, something they pride themselves on, reprieved both batsmen with dropped chances. There was a missed stumping as well. They had relaxed their guard after the huge wicket of Dhoni, and you could sense some panic among the ranks. Boundary balls, wides, the occasional misfields. The wheels had come apart but, fortuitously for them, Corey Anderson just about got away with a very poor final over.

Which is why the fourth match at Seddon Park becomes even more crucial for New Zealand. India have sensed the hosts can be vulnerable even when they are on top.

"Hamilton will again be a huge game for us," McCullum said. "It's a good test for us. We are playing against the best and we have been confronted with some pressure situations and we are learning a lot about ourselves which is good. It should hold us in good stead in 12 months' time."

McCullum would want New Zealand to apply those learnings as well, for such a meltdown could prove far costlier in the World Cup next year.

Top 6 White Hat Hackers

Let’ begin with who is a white hacker? First of all, white hacker is good, conscientious and ethical hacker, who tries to save the balance of the universe by doing good works. White hats are very useful and it goes without saying they constantly compete with black hats. White hats hackers can be compared with cats, which catch mice, namely they look for defects of the systems. Besides, white hats are computer security guards, they test systems for the level of protection and moreover they improve their skills. Mainly, white hats don’t look for fame or money, they serve in society.

It is undeniable that sometimes black hat hackers became white hackers and prevent crimes, because they perfectly know what to do. So who are they main and most famous white hats of all times?

Before you move on further with this post you might like to read about Top 6 Black Hat Hackers.

• Top 6 Black Hat Hackers In The World

1. Stephen Wozniak

Stephen Wozniak, The Great Woz, as many hackers call him, moreover,  he is “the second half” of Steve Jobs and Apple empire, became as an icon and inspiration for many people, who never lost interest in computer technology. What did he actually do? It is well-known today that he made free long-distance calls possible exploring so-called blue boxes, at the time, when high technology has made its first baby steps.  Nevertheless, one should accept that Woz is an independent developer and worked for the good of people. Currently, Stephen Wozniak is preaching charity and provides new technologies. One can truly say that Stephen Wozniak made a difference in this world and he deserves to be called as a white hat hacker.

2. Tim Berners-Lee 

Tim Berners-Lee is well-known around the world as fonder of the web we use - World Wide Web. No wonder that this man invented his first computer using iron, as they say necessity is the mother of invention. Doubtless, his innovating had led him to becoming a president of the Open Data Institute in 2012.

3. Linus  Torvals 

Linus  Torvals created Linux operation system, which many of us use. At the beginning, this system was about to be called as Freax, using the combination of words “ freak” and “free”. Luckily, nowadays we know it as Linux.  As Linus himself once said that all he wanted to have fun doing something he really enjoys. This seems to confirm the idea that it is the great result of having fun!

4. Tsutomu Shimomura 

Tsutomu Shimomura is also a very good example of a white hat hacker. The bottom line is he tracked down another hacker –Kevin Mitnick, who actually was a black hat hacker. However, later on he has entered the ranks of white hats. Tsutomu Shimomura caught Mitnick with flying colors hacking Mitnick’s phone. Good job catching “black knight”. Currently Shimomura is CEO and CTO of Neofocal System.

5. Richard Matthew Stallman 

Richard Matthew Stallman is known also by his initials – RMS. His policy is to give users freedom of usage software as well as education, freedom of voice and choice. He has developed Free software foundation, GNU project, which allows use computer and its devices for free

What is more, RMS is a founder of copyright concept. Among the list if his merits are 14 doctorates and professorships.

6. Johanna Rutkowska.

When it goes about technology and computers, most of the time we mentioned men. Women weren’t pathfinders in this area, however, they have done enough to be mentioned among outstanding white hats. Thus, this smart lady could hide root kits in software and hardware and to make them invisible to a naked eye. One must admit the talent of he woman. To draw the conclusion, one can say that enumerated people have brought its own contribution in foundation and innovation of computer technologies. Until the world has such brainy “white knights”, its save.

Pakistan pull off astonishing chase

Azhar Ali's hundred helped Pakistan pull off one of the great

Pakistan turned a Test that had been an abysmal advertisement for cricket for four days and one session on its head, with an incredible batting performance after lunch on the final day, when they scored 302 runs in 57.3 overs to sucker-punch Sri Lanka and level the series. Their run-rate of 5.25 was the second highest in a successful chase of a 200-plus target, and the protagonists of this heist - Azhar Ali, Sarfraz Ahmed and Misbah-ul-Haq - proved that the soporific pace of the previous days was entirely by design, largely Sri Lanka's to protect their 1-0 lead.

For the fifth day to have ended in a result, both teams needed to play extraordinary cricket. Pakistan were extraordinarily purposeful; Sri Lanka were extraordinarily negligent. The visitors began the day with a lead of 220 and five second-innings wickets in hand but batted so slowly, adding 19 runs in the last 16.4 overs. With a minimum of 59 overs left in two sessions Sri Lanka were still favourites, if not to win then certainly to draw, but they were ultra-defensive from the outset against a desperate Pakistan unit. As Misbah-ul-Haq's side motored towards the target with an unfamiliar efficiency, it became too late for Angelo Mathews to snap himself and his side out of stupor. Sri Lanka sank in the Sharjah twilight, with their captain and fielders feebly complaining about not being able to see the ball.

Pakistan needed 195 in 35 overs at the start of the final session, and they had made a tactical decision to send Sarfraz Ahmed in at No.5, shortly before the tea break. He proved to be the catalyst, and the method he used to attack Rangana Herath's defensive line oozed with resourcefulness.

Herath operated from over the wicket and pitched wide outside leg stump for most of his 19 overs, which cost 100 and yielded no wickets, but when he did so after tea Sarfraz took guard near the wide-ball indicators outside leg stump and lofted inside-out through covers to beat a packed on-side field. After several such shots, Mathews moved a fielder from the leg to the off, and Sarfraz promptly slogged Herath over the midwicket boundary to take 15 runs off the 29th over, the most expensive of the match.

While Sarfraz made use of his license to run riot, Azhar accumulated briskly in a more organised manner, driving the seamers and sweeping Herath off his negative line. With the field spread deep, Azhar picked off the gaps to get to his half-century off 79 balls, and his 89-run stand with Sarfraz came at a run-a-ball. Pakistan needed 116 off 22.2 overs when Misbah walked in, after Sarfraz had been caught gloving a Shaminda Eranga short ball down the leg side.

Mathews remained defensive despite having a new batsman at the crease and the 40th over of the chase, from Suranga Lakmal, was a defining one. Azhar jumped outside leg and drove, forcing a full-length dive from the deep-cover fielder, the next three balls went to deep point and deep midwicket, before Misbah pulled to the fine-leg boundary. The over cost 12 runs, and Pakistan's momentum was unaffected by Sarfraz's departure.

Despite Azhar and Misbah sweeping and reverse-sweeping Herath at will, irrespective of whether he bowled over or round the wicket, and the left-arm spinner proving utterly ineffective at controlling the run-rate, Mathews did not use his offspinner Dilruwan Perera at all.

Sri Lanka tried to stall the game in the last hour, with Eranga needing prolonged attention from the physio after his arm came into contact with Misbah's helmet, which prompted umpire Richard Kettleborough to ask the physio to stay off the ground when Lakmal fell while collecting a ball. The equation boiled down to 30 off 30 balls, and after three runs off the first two deliveries of the Lakmal over, Azhar cleared his front foot and swung to the midwicket boundary. A ball later, he celebrated a century off 133 balls. The century stand with Misbah had taken only 111.

Even when Pakistan needed 17 off four overs, the field stayed spread. Sri Lanka had actually lost the Test long before the winning runs were hit.

The base for Pakistan's final-session heroics had been laid after the lunch break, when Ahmed Shehzad and Khurram Manzoor came out swinging. As soon as Shehzad flicked Eranga for two fours in the second over and Manzoor charged and slapped Lakmal to the cover boundary in the third, Mathews dispersed his fielders. The approach was helter-skelter and fraught with risk, though. Shehzad eventually mis-hit a slower ball and was caught at deep midwicket, while Manzoor was caught nimbly down the leg side by the wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene. Pakistan had got to 48 at more than five an over.

Azhar began his innings by cutting his second ball fiercely through point, but his partnership with Younis Khan was more measured. With plenty of gaps to exploit, they picked up singles and twos comfortably. They added 49 in 12.4 overs when Younis pulled Mathews straight to midwicket to leave Pakistan on 97 for 3.

Pakistan did not go on the defensive despite losing Younis. Instead, they promoted Sarfraz, and he charged and slogged Mathews to the midwicket boundary in the last over before tea, small indication of the damage he would inflict on Sri Lanka after the break.

Sri Lanka would not have suffered such an embarrassing defeat had they played more periods of this Test with a semblance of the urgency Prasanna showed for an hour this morning. After they scored at 1.87 for 71 overs on the fourth day, Prasanna led the gathering of 62 runs in 14 overs on the last morning. A few wickets, however, forced a dramatic slowdown and Sri Lanka went at a little more than a run an over for the rest of their innings. At the end of the Test, Sri Lanka had batted 273.4 overs; Pakistan needed only 166.4 overs to score a run more. There lay the difference.