Quinton de Kock guided Mumbai Indians back to winning ways as his dazzling innings helped last season's champions beat Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets.
Rajasthan made 171-4 but were lacking an outstanding contribution with the bat, which is what De Kock gave Mumbai as his unbeaten 70 from 50 balls proved telling, halting a two-game slide.
Chris Morris took two of the three Mumbai wickets to fall, but the Indian Premier League's most expensive player also saw his first delivery swatted for six by De Kock and could not win that contest.
Jasprit Bumrah had earlier played a key role with the ball in restricting the flow of runs late in Rajasthan's innings, and Mumbai reached their target with nine balls to spare, finishing on 172-3.
At Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, Rajasthan's top four all made useful scores, with Jos Buttler having three fours and three sixes in making 41 from 32 deliveries and fellow opener Yashasvi Jaiswal also clearing the ropes twice in a rapid 32 from 20 balls.
Both fell to Rahul Chahar (2-33), with Sanju Samson top-scoring with 42 from 27 balls before being cleaned up by a Trent Boult yorker. Shivam Dube (35) was caught and bowled by Bumrah, who snagged his reward for a dazzling performance, finishing with 1-15 from four overs.
Mumbai began their reply in solid fashion and De Kock welcomed fellow South African Morris into the attack with a brutal pull over the ropes.
Morris conceded four leg byes from the next delivery too, but from the final ball of the over he coaxed Rohit Sharma to chip to Chetan Sakariya at mid-on for the first breakthrough of the innings, with 49 on the board.
De Kock kept the runs flowing but lost second-wicket partner Suryakumar Yadav for just 16, flicking Morris to Buttler at mid-wicket, and almost departed himself when he was dropped on 58 by Jaiswal off Sakariya. It would have been a stunning catch and Jaiswal, dashing backwards in the field, got hands to the ball but could not cling on.
Krunal Pandya cracked two sixes in making 39 from 26 balls, edging a delivery from Mustafizur Rahman into his stumps to perish before the winning line, but De Kock and Kieron Pollard (16no), who also struck a maximum off Morris, soon made sure.
Bumrah gets it right
Bumrah may not have the wickets to show for it yet this season, but few batsmen will have relished facing his pace and skill. Here he delivered 12 dot balls, conceded just one boundary, and picked up a wicket from his penultimate delivery, which was probably one of the worst balls he bowled. Stifling the Royals batsmen late in the innings proved so valuable in the end.
De Kock makes his mark
With three failures from his first four IPL innings this season, De Kock knew the team were due a score from him, and here it was. After going 2, 40, 2, 3 in Mumbai's previous matches, opener De Kock stepped up and made all the difference in this clash. His six off Morris was a highlight and De Kock twice went over the ropes, also cracking six fours while proving both sturdy and ever-dangerous. Mumbai had won just two of their opening five games, but this third win was a dominant one, largely thanks to their powerful left-hander.
Matthews stars with 141 and 2-26 as West Indies Women complete 3-0 ODI series sweep over Pakistan in Karachi
Captain Hayley Matthews once again played a starring role to help the West Indies Women complete a 3-0 One-Day International (ODI) series sweep over hosts Pakistan on Tuesday.
The West Indies made an imposing 278-6 off their 50 overs after winning the toss and batting first at the Karachi National Stadium.
Captain Hayley Matthews continued her magnificent form shown throughout the series with 141 off 149 balls including 19 fours while Stafanie Taylor and Shemaine Campbelle both made meaningful contributions with 47 and 38, respectively.
Matthews’ knock means she ends the three-match series with an impressive 325 runs.
Nashra Sandhu took 3-54 to lead the bowling for the hosts while Fatima Sana took 2-67 in support.
An excellent all-round bowling effort then allowed the West Indians to restrict Pakistan to 190 with three overs and one ball remaining.
Muneeba Ali and Aliya Riaz tried their best for the hosts with 38 and 36, respectively.
The West Indian bowling was led by Hayley Matthews, Aliyah Alleyne and Stafanie Taylor who took two wickets each.
Matthews was named player of the series with 325 runs and six wickets.
The teams will now turn their attention to the five-match T20 series which begins on Friday.
Full scores: West Indies Women 278-6 off 50 overs (Hayley Matthews 141, Stafanie Taylor 47, Shemaine Campbelle 38, Nashra Sandhu 3-54, Fatima Sana 2-67)
Pakistan Women 190 off 47.5 overs (Muneeba Ali 38, Aliya Riaz 36, Aaliyah Alleyne 2-10, Hayley Matthews 2-26, Stafanie Taylor 2-29).
England have mindset of champions – Adil Rashid confident ahead of T20 World Cup
Adil Rashid believes England’s World Cup blowout in India will have no impact on the defence of their T20 crown this summer, claiming they still have “the mindset of champions”.
Jos Buttler’s side surrendered their ODI title meekly last year, crashing out in the group stage after six defeats from nine games, but still hold the 20-over title they claimed in 2022.
Competition is likely to be fierce again in June when the T20 World Cup takes place in the West Indies and United States of America, but Rashid is confident there is no scarring from their tournament trouble last time around.
Instead, the leg-spinner trusts a change of format will help unlock his side’s winning mentality.
“We are not thinking of what has gone on in the past, we’re not thinking about the poor World Cup or people not being in form. That’s a completely different format,” he said.
“Yes, we had a poor run or whatever and we didn’t play well: bat, ball, as a team, as a unit, everything. But I think this is a completely different format where we’re currently world champions. You have the mindset of champions.
“We’re confident. We’ve got the team, we’ve got the mindset, we’ve got the players, we’ve got the experience. If we go out there having that same belief, I think we’ll hopefully go all the way.
“Prior to that we may not be playing well but as soon the tournament comes, people can turn up, teams can turn up and just switch on and win the World Cup.”
England have one warm-up series against Pakistan in May before they fly to the Caribbean and are expected to name a squad, as well as the provisional World Cup group, next week.
Jofra Archer is highly likely to be included, 14 months on from his last international appearance and with the usual lofty expectations, but captain Buttler and head coach Matthew Mott look set to rely on many of the same players who came crashing down in India.
Rashid held his head above water amid those poor results, leading the wicket charts with 15, and will once again be a central part of the plans. At 36, he may not have too many more World Cups left, but he is already doing his bit to help lay a line of succession.
Rashid funded the building of the cricket centre that carries his name in his native Bradford and can often be found mentoring aspiring players alongside a coaching staff led by brother Amar and including the likes of former England seamer Sajid Mahmood.
He was also on hand to help the England and Wales Cricket Board launch a new national tape ball competition in Birmingham last week, and is passionate about helping those in communities like his own prosper.
“It’s only 10 minutes from my house. When I’m at home, I pop in, see how things are, have a little train, have a little bowl myself with whoever’s there,” he said.
“There’s a lot of youngsters where we’re from in Bradford, a lot of people who want to play cricket with good talent. We’ve had many youngsters come through that are already playing for Yorkshire academy, playing under-11s, 13s, 15s, second XI.
“One of the main reasons for opening the cricket centre is to give that next generation of cricketers coming through the opportunity to potentially make it to professional cricket, but that’s just one part of it. The other part is to make sure you’re getting people off the streets and creating a community where people can come and play.”
'I wish you all the best..': Narine officially shuts door on Windies comeback for T20 World Cup
The hopes of Sunil Narine's pursuers and cricket enthusiasts at large were dashed, as the player has shut the proverbial door on coming out of retirement, thereby ruling himself out of selection to represent West Indies at the upcoming ICC Men's Twenty20 World Cup.
West Indies captain Rovman Powell and Cricket West Indies vice-president Azim Bassarath were among those hoping to convince Narine to make himself available for one last hurrah at the June 1-29 global showpiece to be hosted in the Caribbean and United States. However, the decision that fans awaited with bated breaths came recently when Narine confirmed that "that door is now closed" despite his stellar form for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.
Narine, 35, is currently leading the tournament's MVP standings after a remarkable run of form, including a magnificent 56-ball unbeaten 109 against Rajasthan Royals last week, his maiden T20 century. He is also KKR's joint-leading wicket-taker, taking nine at 22.11 with his offspin, at an economy rate of 7.10.
That rich vein of form is what initially resulted in Powell's pursuit, as the Jamaican admitted that he had been "whispering in [Narine's] ears" over the previous 12 months, ahead of what will be West Indies' first home World Cup campaign since 2007.
Narine, who retired from international cricket in November 2023, having not played for West Indies since 2019, insisted he was not about to change his mind.
"I'm truly flattered and humbled that my performances recently have moved many people to publicly express their wish for me to come out of retirement and play in the upcoming T20 World Cup," Narine wrote in a statement issued by KKR,
"I have made peace with that decision and whilst I never wish to disappoint, that door is now closed, and I will be supporting the guys who take the field in June for West Indies. Guys who have worked hard for the past few months and deserve to show our wonderful fans that they are capable of winning another title - I wish you all the best," he added.
The Darren Sammy-led West Indies, who won the 2012 and 2016 edition, will be hunting a third title overall and first with Sammy at the helm as coach.
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