There are question marks over the long-term future of The Hundred following reports that the England and Wales Cricket Board is open to reviewing the format.

There have been two seasons of the eight-team tournament, with a third due to get under way in August, but it continues to divide opinion and attract debate.

The Hundred was effectively ring-fenced and spared scrutiny during the high-performance review of English cricket helmed by Sir Andrew Strauss last year, but with several of its key recommendations discarded the Daily Mail and The Cricketer have reported that the governing body is now ready to put it back on the table. The ECB has been approached for comment.

Reverting to the T20 format and a two-division structure with promotion and relegation is one suggestion, but any changes are unlikely to come quickly. While contracts associated to the competition, from players to backroom staff, typically run year to year and could be unpicked with relative ease, the ECB’s current broadcast deal with Sky runs to 2028 while the BBC’s existing free-to-air arrangement covers at least the next two editions.

It is perhaps relevant that the ECB is currently led by chief executive Richard Gould and chair Richard Thompson. The pair held matching roles at Surrey when The Hundred was first under mooted, with the club forthright in their opposition during their tenure.

Gould has publicly reversed his stance since taking over at the ECB, declaring the 100-ball tournament “a significant success” and predicting it would have “a long future”.

Opinions on The Hundred remain mixed. The elevation of the women’s game has been an unvarnished success, while there is evidence that the scheduling, marketing and ticket pricing have helped attract new fans and a broader demographic to cricket grounds.

But the financial situation is disputed. A report from Worcestershire chair Fanos Hira, a chartered accountant, attaches a £9million loss to the first two seasons but the ECB argues that it turned a profit of £11.8m.

The Hundred has been granted a clear window at the height of summer, taking place throughout August in the immediate aftermath of the Ashes, but appears unlikely to be granted the same luxury in 2024.

Kirk McKenzie scored an unbeaten half-century for West Indies Academy, who are 89-2 at stumps on a rain-shortened second day of their four-day match against Weekes XI at Coolidge Cricket Ground on Thursday.

Chasing Weekes XI’s 401 all out, McKenzie and Keagan Simmons put on 27 in their opening stand before the latter was bowled by Jair McAllister for seven. The bowler would later dismiss Ackeem Auguste in similar fashion for 21 as West Indies Academy slipped to 57-2.

However, McKenzie and Kevlon Anderson, who scored 153 for West Indies Academy in the seven-wicket victory over Headley XI last week, added 30 without further loss when play ended. McKenzie has so far struck eight fours in his even 50 while Anderson is not out on seven.

McAllister has so far taken 2-21.

Earlier, Weekes XI resuming from their overnight score of 365-7 with Kevin Sinclair on 52 and Veerasammy Permaul on nought, lost Permaul for duck to make it 365-8. Realizing he was running out of partners, Sinclair attacked the bowling smashing 11 fours and three sixes in his score of 86 before he was bowled by Ramon Simmonds.

Simmonds bowled McAllister for a duck next ball to wrap up the innings leaving Nail Smith not out on two.

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Adam Zampa led Rajasthan Royals to the top of the Indian Premier League with a sensational knock in a 32-run win over Chennai Super Kings.

Jaiswal plundered 77 from 43 deliveries to propel the Royals to 202-5 from their 20 overs on Thursday.

The Royals opener finally succumbed to Tushar Deshpande in the 14th over, though the damage had been done, with Rajasthan having reached 132 at that stage.

Jos Buttler scored 27 as he helped mount an opening-wicket partnership of 86 with Jaiswal, who also saw Sanju Samson come and go.

Dhruv Jurel added 34 from 15 balls and Devdutt Padikkal tallied up an unbeaten 27 from 13 to nudge the Royals over the 200 mark.

Despite Ruturaj Gaikwad's 47, the Super Kings lacked the pace needed in the chase, and his stand was ended by the brilliant Zampa in the 10th over, who took 3-22.

Shivam Dube's 52 handed Chennai hope, yet with Zampa sending Moeen Ali packing, the Super Kings were battling against the odds.

In the end they just did not have enough, Dube's dismissal in the final over capping off a fine win for the Royals.

IPL first for the Royals

No team had surpassed the 200 milestone in an IPL match played in Jaipur until now, with the Royals holding that unique record.

They are onto 10 points and sit top of the pile.

Jaiswal the star of the show

While Zampa impressed with the ball, it was Jaiswal's knock that really put the Royals in command.

The opener struck 12 boundaries, including four sixes, with his 77 coming at a strike rate of 179.06.

West Indies white ball opener Brandon King was a significant contributor as Team Weekes ended day one of their Headley-Weekes four-day series fixture in a strong position against the West Indies Academy at Coolidge on Wednesday.

King made a 148-ball 92, supporting Zachary McCaskie’s 147-ball 93, as Team Weekes ended the day 365-7 off 90 overs. Jahmar Hamilton (57) and Kevin Sinclair (52*) also got fifties on day one.

Entering this contest, King had an average of 34.84 in 32 First-Class games including three hundreds and 12 fifties.

King's last four-day appearance came in March last year when he made an unbeaten 119 for the Jamaica Scorpions against the Windward Islands Volcanoes at the Brian Lara Stadium.

He spoke about his return to red-ball cricket after the day’s play.

“Very happy to be back playing red ball cricket. It’s been a little while. It was great fun batting out there with no time restrictions,” King said.

The West Indies batsman opener got to the crease with his side 82-3 having lost the wickets of Keacy Carty for 12 and captain Alick Athanaze for a two-ball duck.

He then formed a crucial 136-run fourth wicket partnership with McCaskie.

“It’s 4-day cricket so you have time on your side and you want to try and build a partnership to put the team in a better position,” King said.

“We kept it simple. The pitch wasn’t doing a great deal so we just tried to take as little risk as possible while still putting the bowlers under pressure and it worked out for us,” he added.

Regarding the team’s plan going into the innings, King said it was simple.

“We know that the pitch is generally good for batting and that in the first session the bowlers would get something out of it. Our plan was always to try and bat through the first session with as little wickets as possible then bat the rest of the day,” King said.

“We weren’t too focussed on the number of runs but we knew that if we batted the whole day we’ll get a good score,” King added.

Day two takes place on Thursday.

Stuart Broad hopes Australia try to fight fire with fire by trying to adopt England's aggressive approach in the Ashes.

England have enjoyed a significant upturn in fortunes since Brendon McCullum was appointed Test head coach and Ben Stokes replaced Joe Root as captain.

An attacking philosophy enabled them to secure an unprecedented 3-0 away series whitewash of Pakistan after they beat New Zealand and South Africa on home soil, as well as India in a rearranged Test.

They also drew 1-1 in New Zealand, losing a thrilling second Test by one run after making the Black Caps follow-on.

Seamer Broad believes Australia could come unstuck if they try to score at a rapid rate in the battle for the urn.

He told the Daily Mail: "'It's going to be a slight clash of styles and I'm fascinated to see how their bowling attack will defend against us.

"And it will be interesting to see how their batters stay calm because we play so aggressively now. Will they be able stick to their game plans and bubbles when we're playing this style? That will be a test for them.

"I think it would be great for us if Australia try to take us on at our own game. If we can get them playing in a slightly different style they could make mistakes and that would be brilliant for us.

"Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja are all guys who like to bat time and accumulate so if we can nibble away at them and just get them thinking 'why are we not scoring quicker? Why are we not moving the game forward?'

"We leave Jack Leach's mid-on and mid-off in all the time and Stokesey basically says 'you're not having them back. Let them keep hitting you'.

"And he's probably got more caught mid-offs now than lbs, so it's playing on minds. I'd love Smith to dance down the track and sky one to mid-off early doors. That would be classic."

England were hammered 4-0 in the last Ashes series in Australia, but Broad has written that off as "void".

"Nothing was harsher than the last Ashes series," he said. "But in my mind I don't class that as a real Ashes. The definition of Ashes cricket is elite sport with lots of passion and players at the top of their game.

"Nothing about that series was high level performance because of the Covid restrictions. The training facilities, the travel, not being able to socialise. I've written it off as a void series."

Mark Wood has backed fellow England fast bowler Jofra Archer to be fit and ready for a role in this summer’s Ashes.

The pace pair have struggled with serious injury problems over the course of their careers – perhaps unsurprising given their shared ability to hit extreme speeds in excess of 95mph – but are hopeful of taking on Australia in the coming months.

Archer last played Test cricket more than two years ago, spending much of the intervening period battling with a longstanding elbow complaint, and reacted angrily to reports this week that he had recently been forced to undergo a minor procedure on the joint.

He took to Twitter to rebuke revelations that came at a “worrying and troubling time for a player” but he was cleared to play his second IPL game of the season on Saturday and remains in England’s thoughts for their hotly-anticipated series against Australia, which begins in June.

Wood, who is also in India with Lucknow Super Giants, is also hoping to be involved after being ruled out of the whole of last summer’s international programme and expects Archer to be ready too.

“I feel for Jofra actually and I can sympathise with him quite a bit there,” the Durham quick told Sky Sports News.

“You feel like you’re just getting back and then you have a little setback and things happen. The curve’s never in a straight line is it? You know that on the way back you’re going to have bumps along the way. But he’s a champion player and I’m sure he’ll come back and be a champion again.

“I think, reading between the lines, it sounds like it’s not a massive setback that he’s going to have. He has overcome bigger things and I’m sure that he will be ready for the Ashes.

“England aren’t going to be silly with things. They’re going to know they want him for that series and they’re going to be looking ahead. He’ll get great treatment there in Mumbai and England will look after him so that, come the Ashes, he will be mentally and physically ready.”

Wood was one of the few visiting players who enhanced his reputation during England’s humbling 4-0 defeat Down Under in 2021-22 and is sure it will be a much closer contest this time around.

“I think Australia are a world-class team and I think it will be a great series,” he said.

“This (England) team is capable of achieving great things and I wouldn’t want to put any marker on it and say we can’t do anything, or set the bar at any sort of level, because I think this team can really achieve great things.”

Half-centuries Zachary McCaskie, Brandon King, Jahmar Hamilton and Kevin Sinclair have put Weekes XI in a strong position of 365-7 against West Indies Academy on the opening day of their Headley Weekes Tri-Series match at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua on Wednesday.

West Indies Academy fresh off their seven-wicket victory over Headley XI last week, won the toss and asked Weekes XI to bat. Tagenarine Chanderpaul and McCaskie laid a solid platform with an opening stand of 55.

However, Chanderpaul was then trapped leg before by Nyeem Young for 25, triggering a minor slide during which Kacey Carty was caught behind by Tevin Imlach for 12 off McKenny Clarke, who dismissed Alick Athanaze in similar fashion for a duck in his next over as Weekes XI slipped from 55 without loss to 82-3.

However, McCaskie and Brandon King put an end to the bloodletting with a fourth-wicket partnership of 136 in 35 overs that resurrected the innings. McCaskie would fall short of a deserved 100 when Kirk McKenzie had him caught by Ackeem Auguste for 93.

King continued on to 92 during a partnership of 39 with Jahmar Hamilton but then he became the third victim of the Imlach/Clarke combination to miss out on his century.

Hamilton than stitched together a stand of 74 with Kevin Sinclair but then was dismissed by Nyeem Young for 57. Sinclair soldiered on putting on 23 with Dominic Drakes who made 13 before he lost his wicket to Kevin Wickham for 13.

Sinclair will resume on 52 on Thursday with Veerasammy Permaul at the other end with the intention of taking Weekes XI past 400.

Clarke was the best bowler on the day with 3-91 while Young took 2-75.

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).

Gujarat Titans claimed an emphatic win over Mumbai Indians to move into second place in the Indian Premier League.

Inspired by Shubman Gill's third half-century of the season, the Titans swatted aside Mumbai by 55 runs on Tuesday.

Gill scored 56 from 34 deliveries before he was dismissed by Kumar Kartikeya in the 12th over, with the Titans on 91-3.

David Miller (46 from 22) and Abhinav Manohar (42 from 21) picked up the slack, driving Gujarat to 207-6 from their 20 overs.

Mumbai's chase started badly – captain Rohit Sharma caught and bowled by Hardik Pandya (1-10) in the second over, with Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma succumbing to Rashid Khan (2-27) in the eighth.

Cameron Green plundered 33 but his stand came to an end three overs later, with Noor Ahmad picking up the first of his three wickets.

Nehal Wadhera's 40, which included six boundaries, offered Mumbai some slim hope, but his dismissal in the 18th over all but ended their chances, with the Indians limited to just 152-9.

Gill keeps up sparkling form

No IPL player has scored more half-centuries than Gill this season, while his knock on Tuesday came at a strike rate of 164.7 – the second-highest of his campaign.

Slow starts stalling Mumbai's progress

The Indians managed just 29 runs during the powerplay, the second time they have scored such a measly total in the powerplay this season.

Rajasthan Royals are the only team to score fewer runs in a powerplay in 2023. That low score of 26 also came against the Titans.

The Sydney Cricket Ground unveiled a set of gates named after legends Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara on Monday.

According to ESPNCricinfo, April 24 was selected as the date to unveil the gates to mark Tendulkar's 50th birthday as well as the 30^th anniversary of Lara's 277 at the SCG, his first Test century, though that Test was played in January 1993.

"The Sydney Cricket Ground has been my favourite ground away from India," Tendulkar said in a statement released by Cricket Australia.

"I have had some great memories at the SCG right from my first tour of Australia in 1991-92. It is a great honour to have the gates used by all visiting cricketers to access the field of play at the SCG named after me and my good friend Brian," he added.

"I'm deeply honoured to be recognised at the Sydney Cricket Ground, as I'm sure Sachin is,” Lara said.

“The ground holds many special memories for me and my family and I always enjoy visiting whenever I'm in Australia," Lara added.

That innings of 277 remained Lara's highest at the SCG. He totalled 384 runs at the ground in four Tests overall while Tendulkar had an average of 157 at the SCG, scoring 785 runs in five Tests over the years with three centuries, including a memorable 241 not out in January 2004.

The statement also outlines that the gates will be used by visiting players to access the field.

On hand to unveil the gates were SCG and Venues NSW Chairman Rod McGeoch AO, and CEO Kerrie Mather, as well as Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley.

"Sachin Tendulkar's record at the SCG is simply remarkable, while Brian Lara's maiden Test century remains one of the most celebrated innings by a visiting player," Mather said.

"Both players continue to hold a deep affection for the SCG and they remain hugely popular whenever they visit Sydney."

"As the cricketing world celebrates Sachin Tendulkar's 50th birthday, this is a fitting and timely gesture by the SCG to recognise Sachin and Brian Lara as two legends of the international game with exceptional records at the SCG,” said Hockley.

"Their feats will no doubt be an inspiration to not only visiting international teams, but all players fortunate enough to walk onto the hallowed turf of the Sydney Cricket Ground, for generations to come."

Delhi Capitals secured their second win of the Indian Premier League season as the strugglers made it back-to-back victories by beating Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Having lost their first five matches, Delhi got off the mark with a win over Kolkata Knight Riders last week, and they followed it up with a seven-run success over Sunrisers.

The Capitals, despite strong contributions from Manish Pandey (34) and Axar Patel (34) failed to set an imposing total. Washington Sundar (3-28) helping Sunrisers restrict them to 144-9.

Sunrisers looked poised to canter to 145 when Mayank Agarwal (49) guided them to 69-1. However, they subsequently lost four wickets for 16 runs, leaving Heinrich Klaasen (31) and Sundar (24 not out) to lead a recovery mission.

Though Klaasen fell with nine balls remaining, Sundar was in a position to get them over the line, Sunrisers needing 13 off the last.

But Mukesh Kumar did not allow a single boundary in the final six balls, frustrating Sunrisers with superb death blowing to seal triumph for Delhi.

Delhi celebrate new low

The Capitals' total of 144 is the lowest they have successfully defended in the IPL. Their previous best in that regard came back in 2009, when they prevailed against Rajasthan Royals when defending 150.

Bhuvneshwar brilliance not enough

Bhuvneshwar Kumar will feel aggrieved to be on the losing side. The Sunrisers seamer bowled 16 dot balls in his four overs, the most by any bowler this season. His 11 runs conceded also marked the lowest total by any bowler to complete his allocation of overs in the 2023 campaign.

The West Indies ‘A’ team will play three four-day ‘Test’ matches Sylhet International Cricket Stadium (SICS) in Sylhet, Bangladesh, CWI announced on Monday.

These matches will have full first-class status. The West Indies “A” Team will arrive in Bangladesh on May 11.

This will be the second West Indies Men’s “A” Team series since 2020, when COVID-19 caused major disruptions. It is a reciprocal tour by West Indies “A” following the Bangladesh “A” team’s visit last August, when they played two four-day first-class matches and three 50-over List A matches at the Daren Sammy Stadium in Saint Lucia.

West Indies Men’s “A” team matches are an important development opportunity for players pushing for selection to the West Indies senior team and for emerging players to build their first-class international experience.

Roland Holder, CWI’s Manager of Cricket Operations, reiterated that the series would provide exposure for several players and noted it was significant part of CWI’s commitment to continually develop talent and prepare them for the demands at international cricket.

“We are again pleased to work closely with the BCB as we confirm the match schedule for this upcoming Men’s ‘A’ Team Series,” Holder said.

“Last summer we had a competitive five-match series with red ball and white ball matches in Saint Lucia. This time around our players will get to experience foreign conditions and this is a vital part of their development in the pathway toward full international selection and provides a platform for further exposure and progress following the recent West Indies Championship and new Headley Weekes Tri-Series.”

MATCH SCHEDULE

All matches at SICS, Sylhet

16-19 May: 1st “Test”

23-26 May: 2nd “Test”

30 May to 2 June: 3rd “Test”

West Indies ODI captain, Shai Hope ended his three-match stint with English County Championship side Yorkshire County Cricket Club with an unbeaten half century in their drawn match against Sussex on Sunday.

The 29-year-old had a fairly successful run with the Division II County Cricket side scoring 13 and 83 in a loss to Leicestershire and 38 and 53 not out in a draw against Sussex. Yorkshire’s match against Gloucestershire was abandoned.

Notwithstanding the short run, Hope said he had a good time playing league cricket.

“I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Yorkshire family. The culture they’ve created facilitated a smooth transition into what was a quick turnaround for me to add to a relatively young team,” said the 29-year-old Hope, who is not ruling out a return to the club.

“Thank you for having me and hope to see you in the not so distant future.”

According to Yorkshire, Hope will be missed.

“Sadly we say goodbye to Shai as he heads home after his three games with us. Shai has been a legend on and off the field. Thank you Shai,” it said on Instagram.

Ajinkya Rahane played a starring role as Chennai Super Kings moved top of the Indian Premier League after beating Kolkata Knight Riders by 49 runs.

Rahane knocked an impressive 71 from just 29 balls - including five sixes - while Devon Conway and Shivam Dube also brought up 50 as the Kings recorded their third straight victory at Eden Gardens.

After the Knight Riders elected to bowl, Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad ensured a steady start for the Kings, who were 59-0 at the end of the Powerplay.

Suyash Sharma eventually broke the stand when he bowled Gaikwad for 35, but Conway and Rahane kept the Kings on track - the former bringing up the half-century off 34 balls.

Varun Chakaravarthy eventually claimed Conway for 59, but the Rahane-Dube partnership chalked up a combined 85 off 32 balls.

Kulwant Khejroliya eventually bowled Dube and Ravindra Jadeja, but Rahane was unbeaten as the Kings finished at 235-4.

But the Knight Riders' record chase stalled early on as they lost Sunil Narine and Jagadeesan Narayan inside the opening two overs.

Jason Roy boosted their quest with three successive sixes from Moeen Ali on his way to reaching 50 off just 19 balls, before eventually falling to Maheesh Theekshana for 61 (off 26).

Singh embarked on a late rally with an unbeaten 55 from 33 balls, but it proved academic as the Knight Riders fell short at 186/8 and suffered their fourth successive defeat.

Rahane leads the way

Rahane played an instrumental role in moving the Super Kings to the IPL summit. The former India captain top-scored with a quickfire 71 from just 29 balls.

Forming solid partnerships alongside Conway and Dube, he hit 11 boundaries during his impressive stand, including five stunning sixes.

Another 50 for Conway

The form of Conway has been pivotal in his side's impressive streak of form. Indeed, he has now scored a half-century in each of the Super Kings' last four victories.

Taking his tally of runs in this season's IPL to 314, Conway is second to only Faf du Plessis (405), who is also the only player to better his number of half-centuries in the competition (five).

Harshal Patel showed composure at the death as Royal Challengers Bangalore sealed a nerve-jangling seven-run win against Rajasthan Royals in the IPL.

The experienced seamer was handed the ball for the final over as Rajasthan needed 20 runs for victory, and despite conceding 10 runs from the first three deliveries, Harshal then applied the brakes, dismissing Ravichandran Ashwin on the way to completing figures of 3-32.

RCB lost Virat Kohli to a first-ball duck as the match began, pinned lbw by Trent Boult, but it got better for them. They totted up 189-9 to set a testing target, with their innings propped up by the twin pillars of Faf du Plessis (62) and Glenn Maxwell (77). Du Plessis and Maxwell collaborated for the highest third-wicket partnership for RCB in the IPL, putting on 127 runs.

Both thrashed the ball around with gusto, probably wondering why nobody else was following suit as Dinesh Karthik, who made 16, was the only other home player to reach double figures.

Mohammed Siraj then bowled Jos Buttler for a duck in the first over of Rajasthan's reply. A second-wicket stand of 98 between Yashasvi Jaiswal (47) and Devdutt Padikkal (52) looked to have tilted the match Rajasthan's way, but the end of that alliance heralded a slowing of the run rate.

Captain Sanju Samson fell for 22 and Rajasthan needed 61 from the final four overs, with their task made all the more difficult when Shimron Hetmyer was brilliantly run out by Suyash Prabhudessai.

Dhruv Jurel (34no) went on the attack and the Royals required 20 from the last set of six, which soon became 10 runs from three balls, but then Ashwin holed out to deep midwicket to give Harshal his third wicket, and a pair of singles from the next two balls left Rajasthan short.

Royals rolled over

This defeat at M Chinnaswamy Stadium means Rajasthan, who led the IPL at the start of the day, have followed a run of three wins with back-to-back defeats, having also lost last time out against Lucknow Super Giants. Home hero Harshal was introduced to this contest as an impact substitute for Du Plessis, having been unable to bat because of a finger injury, and he made his mark in grand style by removing Jaiswal and Samson before completing the job.

Maxwell and Du Plessis dominate

Maxwell's third fifty-plus score of this IPL season was the pivotal performance, with his 77 runs coming in just 44 balls. His previous two fifties came in losing causes, so this will have come as sweet relief. Du Plessis is enjoying a stunning campaign and showed his pedigree again, extending his lead in the list of the IPL's top run-scorers with his fifth half-century of the 2023 tournament, moving to 405 from seven innings.