The Deccan Gladiators opened the seventh season of the Abu Dhabi T10 League with a 22-run win over the New York Strikers at the Zayed Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

The Gladiators, champions of the last two editions of the tournament, posted 118-8 from their ten overs after being put in to bat by the Strikers.

Englishman Tom Kohler-Cadmore led the way for the Gladiators with 68 off 33 balls including four fours and six sixes while Andre Russell hit 17 off nine balls in support. Captain Nicholas Pooran (1), Andre Fletcher (2) and Fabian Allen (0) all failed to make significant contributions with the bat.

Sri Lankan Chamika Karunaratne took 3-25 from his two overs.

The Strikers were then reduced to 96-6 from their ten overs in reply.

Muhammad Waseem (26) and Asif Ali (24) were the main scorers for New York as Zahoor Khan bowled beautifully to finish with 2-12 from his two overs.

Former Australia all-rounder Tom Moody has stated that Gautam Gambhir was pivotal in Kolkata Knight Riders retaining Andre Russell and Sunil Narine for the 2024 season of the Indian Premier League.

Gambhir has returned to the IPL franchise as a mentor for the 2024 IPL season.

KKR on Sunday retained Russell and Narine along with Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Jason Roy, Nitish Rana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Sunil Narine, Suyash Sharma, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, and Venkatesh Iyer.

Russell joined KKR in 2014, while Narine joined in 2012 and both have been mainstays in the team since then.

“They both have been phenomenal cricketers for KKR. I feel that Gambhir has been quite pivotal in the retention of Russell and Narine. Gambhir understands them, he’s played with them, he’s captained them and he’ll be able to get the best out of them,” said Moody to ESPNCricinfo.

However, Moody also revealed their hesitation regarding Russell’s physical condition instead of his performance. Russell scored 227 runs in 14 matches while picking seven wickets for KKR in IPL 2023.

“I think we’ll see a different outcome in 2024 with regards to what Russell brings to the table. The only hesitation I have is not skill. It’s whether he can hold together physically because we’ve seen him break down on a couple of occasions over recent years and it’s been quite alarming. His bowling has been pretty limited as well, and they haven’t had the access to his full quota of overs,” Moody added.

Trinbago Knight Riders ensured a top-two finish and place in the 2023 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) Qualifiers with a seven wicket victory over the Saint Lucia Kings on Sunday.

The home team won the toss and chose to field but it was their former player Colin Munro who was the star of the Saint Lucia Kings innings, scoring an unbeaten 72 runs to take the side to 167-3 after 20 overs.

The Knight Riders’ chase was headlined by a superb half century from Mark Deyal, alongside support from wicket-keeper Lorcan Tucker and Andre Russell, to take the side to a seven-wicket victory in their final game this season in front of their home crowd.

Saint Lucia Kings lost powerful opener Johnson Charles in the PowerPlay, as fast bowler Jayden Seales celebrated with a wicket on his birthday, but the Kings would rebuild as Colin Munro and Roston Chase patiently scored runs in their 76-run partnership, which came off 58 balls.

Chase was dismissed off a Waqar Salamkheil delivery and that was followed shortly afterwards with the big wicket of captain Sikandar Raza, who fell to Sunil Narine.  A late cameo from Sean Williams, who smashed 34 runs off 17 balls would see the Saint Lucia Kings score 58 runs in the last five overs to finish on 167-3.

Trinbago Knight Riders had an early scare as opener Martin Guptill was given out LBW from just the third ball of the innings but the decision was overturned on review.

Guptill eventually lost his wicket in the fourth over, and when Nicholas Pooran, leading run scorer for the franchise this season, lost his wicket in the final ball of the Powerplay to an Alzarri Joseph delivery, the Knight Riders looked in trouble at 45-2.

However, opener Mark Deyal would compose a brilliant half century, reaching 57 before being caught on the boundary by Peter Hatzoglou. Lorcan Tucker would provide invaluable support with 38 runs, before a flurry of boundaries from Andre Russell would ensure the Trinbago Knight Riders would win. 

CPL action now moves on to the final leg in Guyana, with the Guyana Amazon Warriors taking on the Jamaica Tallawahs on Wednesday evening.

Scores: Trinbago Knight Riders 169-3 (Deyal 57, Tucker 38; Joseph 2-42, Chase 1-25) beat Saint Lucia Kings 167-3 (Munro 72*, Williams 34*; Seales 1-23, Salamkheil 1-23) by 7 wickets

Trinbago Knight Riders improved their playoff hopes, as they secured a valuable 42-run win over Barbados Royals in the 2023 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) at Queen’s Park Oval on Wednesday.

After Rovman Powell again won the toss and opted to field first, the Royals bowlers were fairly steady up front, but later found Nicholas Pooran in defiant mode, as the left-hander literally batted them out of the game with a superb unbeaten century.

Pooran’s 53-ball 102, which included 10 sixes and five fours, propelled Knight Riders to a daunting 208-6 from their allotment, before skilled bowling from Waqar Salamkheil (2-18) and Akeal Hosein (2-21), coupled with some poor shot selections from Royals batsmen at times, sealed the deal.

Despite a well-played 45-ball 70 by Kyle Mayers, his best score so far this season, the Royals were restricted to 166. Mayers hammered four sixes and seven fours in his knock.

Scores: Trinbago Knight Riders 208-6 (20 overs); Barbados Royals 166-7 (20 overs)

Sent to bat in front a pack stadium bursting at its seams with a sea of red, the vociferous Knight Riders crowd faced early disappointment when Roelof van der Merwe took a brilliant catch on the boundary ropes to remove Mark Deyal (six) off Mayers bowling.

From 20-1, Pooran and Martin Guptill added 56 for the second wicket, which was inevitably gifted to the Royals, as the New Zealander advanced but failed to get bat on an arm ball from Rahkeem Cornwall and was stumped for 37.

It quickly became 78-3 as a mix-up between Pooran and captain Kieron Pollard resulted in the latter being run out by Mayers.

However, Pooran soldiered on and took the score past the 100-run mark with Lorcan Tucker (eight), before being joined by Andre Russell for an 82-run fifth-wicket partnership.

The two frustrated the Royals bowling with Russell smashing four sixes and two fours in his 22-ball knock, which unfortunately came to an end when he was given out on review for a faint edge.

Pooran eventually pushed past the century milestone, his second in this format, and with it, placed the Knight Riders in the driver’s seat for the two points.

In response, Barbados Royals lost their previous match winner Cornwall (four) cheaply on this occasion, as he went caught by Sunil Narine off Hosein in the third over.

Mayers and Laurie Evans (20) gradually restored the innings, as they added 41 for the second wicket and when the latter fell, it brought captain Powell to the middle.

But Powell’s stay was brief, as he went for nine and Mayers and Alick Athanaze (seven) followed soon after, and from there, the Royals never recovered.

 Jason Holder, who was given a reprieve off a Narine no-ball, failed to capitalise on the second chance and only mustered 19, while Van der Merwe’s quick-fire unbeaten 20 off nine balls, including a massive six and two fours, was not enough.

The win means Trinbago Knight Riders inched up to second on nine points, same as leaders Guyana Amazon Warriors, but the four-time champions have played two games more.

St Lucia Kings (eight points), Barbados Royals (seven points), Jamaica Tallawahs (five points) and St Kitts and Nevis Patriots (two points), complete the table.

The battle for the playoff spots will be intensified when action resumes on Saturday. At that time, Patriots will oppose Kings and Knight Riders against Tallawahs, with a contest between Guyana Amazon Warriors women and Trinbago Knight Riders women, smacked in between.

Trinbago Knight Riders recorded a dramatic two-run win over defending champions Jamaica Tallawahs in the 2023 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) on Sunday.

 Jamaica Tallawahs won the toss and chose to field first, producing a disciplined bowling performance to restrict Trinbago Knight Riders to 142-8 after 20 overs. Kelvin Pitman, making his CPL debut, had an outstanding game as he took three wickets, including that of the opposing captain, Kieron Pollard.

The Tallawahs would have a bright start to their chase but would lose four wickets in the first 10 overs to find themselves in trouble. Waqar Salamkheil and Andre Russell, would prove decisive, taking five wickets between them and restricting runs as the Tallawahs faltered to 140-7, losing by just 2 runs.

The Jamaican franchise got off to an ideal start to the game with experienced seamer Mohammad Amir delivering an opening maiden over.

Openers Martin Guptil and Mark Deyal would however bat through the Powerplay and build a solid foundation to the Knight Riders innings with a 58-run partnership. The complexion of the tie would then completely change as the Knight Riders lost three wickets, including that of Nicholas Pooran, for just five runs. Kelvin Pitman, on debut for the Tallawahs, took two of those wickets within the same over in a brilliant display. The Knight Riders attempts to accelerate the scoring were derailed as they would lose five wickets in the last five overs to finish on 142-8.

Jamaica Tallawahs opened their chase with captain Brandon King and Alex Hales, the duo also batting through the powerplay as they put on a 57-run partnership.

Brandon King lost his wicket to the leg spin of Salamkheil; Jermaine Blackwood was also dismissed four balls later to a super Nicholas Pooran catch, and when Shamarh Brooks departed the very next ball, the Tallawahs looked in trouble at 58-3. More wickets would tumble and despite a late flurry of runs from Chris Green and Imad Wasim, they would ultimately lose by two runs in a nail-biting finish.

 Trinbago Knight Riders will look to continue their winning form as they play their next four games in front of a home crowd.
Scores: Trinbago Knight Riders 142-8 (Pollard 33, Tucker 30, Deyal 30; Amir 3-20, Pitman 3-27) beat Jamaica Tallawahs 140-7 (King 36, Green 32; Russell 3-34, Salamkheil 2-21) by two runs

A dominant display with both bat and ball saw Trinbago Knight Riders register a record 133-run win over Barbados Royals in the 2023 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) at Kensington Oval on Wednesday. 

Barbados Royals, captained by Rovman Powell, won the toss and opted to field first, and it seemed a good decision, as they initially had Trinbago Knight Riders at 69-2 inside 10 overs, before a fantastic 108-run third wicket stand between Martin Guptill and captain Kieron Pollard fired the Knight Riders to their daunting total of 194-5.

Guptill, whose last half-century in the CPL was back in 2018 against the Tallawahs, came good on the night with a 58-ball unbeaten century, while Pollard contributed 46 off 32 balls. Jason Holder was the pick of the Royals bowling with 2-39 from his four overs.

The Royals's reply was derailed by Andre Russell, who grabbed three quick wickets in the powerplay -Rahkeem Cornwall (zero), Kyle Mayers (zero) and Alick Athanaze (two) -while Sunil Narine accounted for Laurie Evans (five) and the host were unable to recover from the early demolition. They were eventually bowled out for 61 in 12.1 overs, succumbing to the largest defeat in CPL history.

Afghan left-arm wrist spinner Waqar Salamkheil introduced himself to the tournament in grand fashion, picking up four for 14 in 3.1 overs. Russell had three for 13 from two overs and Akeil Hosein, two for 16 from four.

Earlier, Trinbago Knight Riders had a cautious start to their innings, with Guptill progressing steadily at one point on 20 runs from 20 balls. They lost the wickets of Mark Deyal (27) and Nicholas Pooran (six), but the complexion of the innings changed once Pollard joined Guptill in the middle.

The two swung the momentum of the game, with Guptill, opening up and paraded his six hitting skills, as he hammered nine maximums and a solitary four on his way to an even 100 which came up in the final over. It was the first century of the 2023 edition and it was firmly backed by Pollard's well-paced knock, which included four sixes and a solitary four. 

Despite losing Pollard, Russell (five) and Dwayne Bravo (zero) at the backend, the damage was already done, and it was left for the Knight Riders bowlers to mop up what was left of the Royals hopes on the night.

Barbados Royals will be back in action tomorrow night against reigning champions Jamaica Tallawahs at the same venue.

Scores: Trinbago Knight Riders 194-5 (20 overs); Barbados Royals 61 all out (12.1 overs)

The Montreal Tigers are champions of the 2023 Global T20 Canada after a five-wicket win over the Surrey Jaguars in the final at the CAA Center in Brampton on Sunday.

The Tigers restricted the Jaguars to a modest 130-5 from their 20 overs after winning the toss and electing to field first.

Jatinder Singh led the way for the Jaguars with an unbeaten 57-ball 56 while Ayaan Khan made 26 off 15 balls including two sixes.

Montreal’s bowling effort was led by 17-year-old Aayan Afzal Khan who took 2-21 from his four overs while Andre Russell also bowled well for his 1-24 off four overs.

Player of the Match and player of the series, Sherfane Rutherford, then led the successful chase with a responsible 38* off 29 balls as the Tigers reached 135-5 off 20 overs.

Rutherford’s knock included three fours and two sixes. Captain Chris Lynn also contributed 31 while Russell hit 20* off just six balls including the match-winning six off the final ball with the Tigers needing two to win.

Iftikhar Ahmed tried his best for the Jaguars with 2-8 from his four overs.

Rutherford ended the tournament with 220 runs from eight innings at an average of 44. Barbadian Matthew Forde took 15 wickets to finish as the top wicket-taker.

Hard-hitting Guyanese left-hander, Sherfane Rutherford, played a starring role to lead the Montreal Tigers to a one-wicket win over Vancouver Knights in Qualifier 2 of the Global T20 Canada at the CAA Canter in Brampton on Saturday.

After winning the toss and electing to field first, the Tigers restricted the Knights to 137-6 off their 20 overs.

Pakistani opener Mohammad Rizwan led the way for the Knights with 39 off 33 balls while South African Corbin Bosch hit a 28-ball 36 including one four and three sixes.

Abbas Afridi was the main destroyer for the Tigers with 5-29 from his four overs.

Montreal’s chase did not get off to a good start at all as they lost their first four wickets for just 29 runs within the first five overs. A 43-run fifth wicket stand between Rutherford and Dipendra Singh Airee provided some stability before the latter fell in the 13^th over.

Another hard-hitting West Indian, Andre Russell, joined Rutherford at the crease and the pair added just 18 before Russell fell in the 15^th over for an 11-ball 17 including one four and two sixes.

Carlos Brathwaite then joined Rutherford at the crease but didn’t last long, facing only two balls and making one to leave the Tigers 97-7 in the middle of the 16^th over.

17-year-old Aayan Afzal Khan then joined Rutherford and the two formed what eventually became a match-winning 26-run eighth wicket partnership before Khan was the first of consecutive wickets in the 19^th over bowled by Junaid Siddique leaving the Tigers needing 15 off the last over with Rutherford on strike facing Rayyan Pathan’s medium pace.

The pressure did not phase Rutherford at all as he deposited the first three balls of the over into the crowd to book the Tigers spot in the final set for Sunday against the Surrey Jaguars at the same venue.

Rutherford finished 48* off 34 balls including two fours and three sixes.

Siddique took 4-22 from his four overs for the Knights. Fabian Allen gave the Knights a good start with 2-15 from his two overs.

Andre Russell put on a show with the bat but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Los Angeles Knight Riders from going down by six wickets to the Washington Freedom in Major League Cricket at the Church Street Park in Morrisville, North Carolina on Thursday.

The Freedom won the toss and put the Knight Riders in to bat. The decision looked like the right one, early, when Washington had the Knight Riders reeling at 68-4 in the 11^th over before Russell came to the wicket.

The all-rounder needed just 37 balls to hit 70*, his second fifty in the tournament. The Jamaican hit six fours and as many sixes. He was supported well by Rilee Rossouw who hit 41 off 30 balls including four sixes.

In the end, LA amassed a respectable 175-7 from their 20 overs. Freedom Captain, Moises Henriques, took 3-26 off three overs while Marco Jansen took 2-29 off four.

The ensuing chase was an all-round batting effort from the Freedom. They needed only 18.1 overs to overhaul LA’s total, eventually finishing on 177-4.

Openers Matthew Short and Andries Gous led the way with scores of 43 and 40, respectively. Short’s innings lasted 35 balls and included three fours and a six while Gous needed just 15 balls and hit five fours and two sixes.

Glenn Phillips also made a good contribution with 29 while Obus Pienaar hit 26. Knight Riders skipper, Sunil Narine, was their most economical bowler with 1-20 from his four overs.

The Knight Riders are still winless in the competition with only one match left to play.

The Texas Super Kings secured a resounding 69-run win over the Los Angeles Knight Riders to kick off the inaugural season of Major League Cricket in the United States.

The Knight Riders, led by Captain, Sunil Narine and including the likes of Andre Russell and Rilee Rossouw, won the toss and elected to field first at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Thursday.

The Super Kings, including Dwayne Bravo, posted 181-6 from their 20 overs thanks to half-centuries from David Miller and Devon Conway.

Miller blasted a 42-ball 61 including two fours and four sixes while, earlier, Conway hit 55 off 37 balls including seven fours and a six at the top of the order.

Pacers Lockie Ferguson and Ali Khan each took a pair of wickets for the Knight Riders.

The Super Kings then used early wickets and disciplined bowling to restrict the Knight Riders to 112 all out in just 14 overs in their reply.

The Knight Riders lost five wickets within the first six overs and were never able to recover to make the game competitive.

Only Andre Russell offered some resistance for the Knight Riders with an aggressive 55 off 34 balls including seven fours and three big sixes.

Jaskaran Malhotra (22) and Narine (15) were the only other batsmen to reach double figures as leg-spinner Mohammad Mohsin backed up some good bowling at the top from the pacers with 4-8 from three overs.

Earlier, Rusty Theron took 2-16 and Gerald Coetzee took 2-22 in four overs between them. Dwayne Bravo also chipped in with 1-10 from his two overs.

Andre Russell and Chris Gayle are among some of the marquee players drafted for the 2023 edition of the Global T20 Canada that returns after an absence of four years.

Previously held in 2018 and 2019, the third edition of the league will bowl off July 20 and conclude on August 6 in Ontario after a four-year hiatus.

Russell has signed to play for Montreal Tigers and will play alongside Shakib al Hasan, Sherfane Rutherford and Carlos Brathwaite as well as Zahir Khan.

Gayle, meanwhile, will suit up for Mississauga Panthers where his power-hitting skills will be complemented by the likes of Shoaib Malik, James Neesham and Cameron Delport.

The other teams in the Global T20 Canada are the Surrey Tigers,  Brampton Wolves, Vancouver Knights and Toronto Nationals.

Veteran players Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine are among six players retained by the four-time CPL champions, Trinbago Knight Riders ahead of the 2023 season scheduled to begin in August.

TKR have also confirmed the retention of Andre Russell, Nicholas Pooran, Akeal Hosein and Jayden Seales.

The Knight Riders have also secured the services of Dwayne Bravo who will be returning to the franchise from the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots. They will also have Mark Deyal as part of their setup in 2023 with the batter joining the Knight Riders from the Saint Lucia Kings.

The decision to retain the aforementioned players is good news for Head Coach Phil Simmons.

“We are very happy to be able to retain most of the Caribbean players from last year’s TKR squad. The experience of Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, and Nicholas Pooran coupled with Dwayne Bravo’s return gives our squad a very strong core,” the former West Indies head coach declared.

“In youngsters like Akeal Hosein, Jayden Seales, and Mark Deyal, we have some of the best young talent from Trinidad representing TKR.

“We’re looking forward to the remaining international signings, and I am excited by the player draft coming up soon to complete the roster and put together a strong squad for CPL 2023.”

The overseas players and draft picks will be announced during the Republic Bank CPL draft show which will be broadcast at the end of June. 

The tournament gets underway on 16 August with the final taking place on 24 September. There will be matches in Barbados, Guyana, St Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago.

A well composed fifty from captain Nitish Rana and a crucial 42 from Andre Russell helped the Kolkata Knight Riders win an exciting last-ball thriller over the Punjab Kings in their Indian Premier League (IPL) fixture at Eden Gardens on Monday.

After winning the toss and electing to bat first, the Kings posted 179-7 off their 20 overs thanks to a top-score of 57 off 47 balls from captain Shikhar Dhawan.

Spinner Varun Chakravarthy led the way with 3-26 from his four overs while pacer Harshit Rana took 2-33 from three overs for the Knight Riders.

In reply, captain Nitish Rana made a 38 ball 51 while Andre Russell contributed 42 and Jason Roy 38 as the Knight Riders successfully reached 182-5 off their 20 overs.

Russell’s knock came off just 23 balls and included a 20-run penultimate over leaving the Knight Riders needing six to win off the last over.

The Jamaican fell off the penultimate ball of the match with KKR needing two to win before Rinku Singh, who finished 21* off 10 balls, hit the final ball bowled by Arshdeep Singh for four to seal the win.

Leg-spinner Rahul Chahar took 2-23 off his four overs for Punjab.

Andre Russell has thrown Cricket West Indies under the buss in a recent interview claiming his Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders treats him better.

The 35-year-old all-rounder has played for KKR since 2014, when he helped them win the IPL title.

Since that time, Russell, who last played for the West Indies during the ICC T20 World Cup in 2021, has declined several opportunities to represent the regional team often citing health issues relating to long-term knee injuries.

During a recent interview on Star Sports in India, Russell said KKR makes him feel special for everything that Kolkata-based franchise did for him to get treatment done on his knees.

"Where I was, a few years ago, KKR actually make things happen for me where they send me to get proper treatments on my knees,” Russell said.

“That's something special to me to be honest. No other franchise or even my country never really invest that much on me."

Russell added that he feels at home at KKR.

"I'm happy here. I don't see any other franchise I would love to be a part of in this tournament because I've been here for about nine years now. Been here for so many years, I meet these guys, get closer to them every year," he said.

A quickfire 56 from Jason Roy helped Kolkata Knight Riders to a 21-run victory against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League.

RCB looked like they might be able to chase down their target of 201 after Virat Kohli (54) threatened to outdo Roy, but once wickets started to fall the hosts ran out of steam quickly.

Roy brought up his 50 from just 22 balls, while Narayan Jagadeesan (27) played a supporting role, but the latter became the first wicket to fall as he tried to hit Vijaykumar Vyshak for six, instead finding David Willey for a simple catch on the boundary.

Vyshak (2-41) then clattered the leg stump of Roy in the same over to give RCB another boost as they looked to get back in to the game.

Captain Nitish Rana (48 from 21 balls) was dropped twice and made RCB pay as he blitzed some boundaries, before finally being caught well by Vyshak off the bowling of Wanindu Hasaranga (2-24).

Venkatesh Iyer (31) was also gone just two balls later after hitting one straight up in the air for Glenn Maxwell to take, while Mohammed Siraj bowled Andre Russell for just one in the penultimate over.

Rinku Singh (18 not out) and David Wiese (12no) added some welcome late boundaries to the end of the innings and set a target just beyond 200, but the reply started well for RCB.

Kohli and Faf Du Plessis (17) hit 30 from the first two overs, though the South African was out in the third as he hit Suyash Sharma to Rinku at long-on.

Suyash (2-30) had another soon after when he trapped Shahbaz Ahmed (2) lbw, and Maxwell (5) was not far behind as he hit a soft shot off Varun Chakravarthy straight to Wiese.

Mahipal Lomror was nicely dovetailing with Kohli as he knocked 34 from 18 balls before finding Russell's safe hands on the boundary as he tried to slog Chakravarthy (3-27).

Hope seemed to be over for the hosts when Kohli hit Russell to deep mid-wicket, only for Venkatesh to take the catch, while Suyash Prabhudessai (10) was run out and Hasaranga added just five before departing.

Once Dinesh Karthik has fallen to Chakravarthy for 22, the writing was on the wall as the Knight Riders clinched just their third win of the season.

Roy wracks up runs

England batter Roy struck 56 to bring up his fourth 50+ score in the IPL; and has now scored 160 runs so far in this, his fourth season, his highest of any prior IPL campaign.

Roy hit four fours and five sixes on Wednesday, with no other batter on either team hitting as many maximums.

Kohli notches another 50

The RCB captain was not quite as explosive as Roy, taking 37 balls to make his 54 and not hitting any sixes (six fours), but Kohli still set the table for what could have been a decent stab at reaching 201 for his team, though it fizzled out fairly rapidly.

This was his fifth 50+ score of the season, the joint-most of any batter (with team-mate Du Plessis), while it was his 54th 50+ score in the competition's history, second to only David Warner (63).