Former Jamaica and West Indies batsman Ricardo Powell registered the second century by a Caribbean player in the Legends Cricket League, as he guided India Capitals to a seven-wicket win over Southern Superstars on Saturday.

Powell hammered an even 100 off a mere 57 balls, which ensured that the Capitals chased down 164 with inside 18 overs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium.

Scores: Southern Superstars 163-6 (20 overs); India Capitals 164-3 (17.4 overs)

The 44-year-old, who featured in two Tests and 109 One-Day Internationals for the West Indies, struck six fours and 10 sixes in the knock in which he raised his half-century in the ninth over after smashing seamer Ashok Dinda for 23 runs.

From there, things got easier for Powell, who partnered with former West Indies Test vice-captain Kirk Edwards in a 128-run, match-winning third wicket stand.

Edwards had five boundaries and a solitary six in his unbeaten 35-ball 45.

Earlier, Sri Lankan Chaturanga de Silva registered a 34-ball 56, while Shreevats Goswami and New Zealand’s Ross Taylor chipped in with 24 apiece, in getting the Superstars to what seemed a competitive total at that point.

Former West Indies off-spinner Ashley Nurse took two for 32 to assist in restricting the Superstars.

Powell’s compatriot Chadwick Walton lashed 104 off 55 deliveries for Manipal Tigers in their encounter on Friday.

India chased 147 to beat Pakistan in the Asia Cup by five wickets, aided by strong innings from Hardik Pandya and the returning Virat Kohli.

After India won the toss and opted to bowl first, Pakistan captain and dangerman Babar Azam was dismissed by Bhuvneshwar Kumar within three overs, before fellow opener Mohammad Rizwan top-scored with 43 as Pakistan were bowled out for 147 with one ball of the innings remaining.

Bhuvneshwar was the pick of the Indian bowlers, taking 4-26, while Pandya and Arshdeep Singh took three and two wickets respectively. 

India's chase got off to a woeful start as KL Rahul, making his return from injury, was removed for a golden duck, dragging on from the bowling of Pakistan T20I debutant Naseem Shah. Rahul's dismissal brought in Kohli, returning after a short hiatus from cricket, who made an important 35 before being caught at long-off. 

A 36-run partnership between Ravindra Jadeja and Suryakumar Yadav looked to have set India on their way to victory but Shah struck again, dismissing Suryakumar to tee up a tense finish.

But Pandya smashed a brilliant 33 runs off 17 deliveries to win the game for his team, even after Jadeja was bowled in the final over. With India needing six off three balls, Pandya sent a maximum flying into the stands to dramatically seal the victory.

Powerful pace attack

After spinners took all 10 wickets for India in their last T20I, a victory over West Indies, all 10 wickets in this Asia Cup opener were taken by Indian pace bowlers for the first time in a T20I innings as they bowled out Pakistan for 147, a score which they were able to chase down.

Returning Kholi

In Kohli's return to cricket, he became just the second player after Ross Taylor to feature in 100 or more internationals across the three formats. After being dropped by Fakhar Zaman on nought, Kohli looked in decent nick as he scored 35 valuable runs before getting out. 

Former New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor has revealed he experienced racism during his career in his home country, from both team-mates and officials.

The middle-order right-hander, who hung up his gloves at the start of this year, is the all-time record run scorer in Test and ODI cricket for New Zealand and also the nation's most-capped player across all formats with 450 appearances to his name.

But now Taylor, who is of Samoan heritage, has spoken out on his experiences with racist "banter" in the locker room and casual racism from some Black Caps officials.

"Cricket in New Zealand is a pretty white sport," the 38-year-old has written in his autobiography, Black & White. "For much of my career I've been an anomaly, a brown face in a vanilla line-up.

"That has its challenges, many of which aren't readily apparent to your team-mates or the cricketing public. In many ways dressing-room banter is the barometer.

"A teammate used to tell me, 'You're half a good guy, Ross, but which half is good? You don't know what I'm referring to.' I was pretty sure I did.

"In all probability a [white New Zealander] listening to those sorts of comments would think, 'Oh, that's OK, it's just a bit of banter'.

"But he's hearing it as white person and it's not directed at people like him. So there's no pushback; no one corrects them – then the onus falls on the targets.

"You wonder if you should pull them up but worry that you'll create a bigger problem or be accused of playing the race card by inflating harmless banter into racism. It's easier to develop a thick skin and let it slide."

A spokesperson for New Zealand cricket said the organisation "deplores racism" in a statement to the New Zealand Herald, adding: "We'll definitely reach out to Ross to discuss the matter."

Ross Taylor was given a guard of honour by Netherlands players but there was no dream final New Zealand innings for the legendary batter at Seddon Park on Monday.

There was a standing ovation for Taylor as he walked out to the crease in Hamilton and the tourists lined up to show their appreciation for his brilliant career during the third and final ODI of the series.

The 38-year-old was caught and bowled by Logan van Beek for only 14 before departing to another standing ovation.

Taylor later led New Zealand out onto the field before Netherlands started their pursuit of a huge target of 334 for a consolation victory.

The former Black Caps captain's children joined him on the pitch for the pre-match national anthems prior to his international swansong.

Taylor retires as New Zealand's highest ODI run-scorer with 8,593 at an average of 47.73, while he has also scored the most hundreds (21) and half-centuries (51) for his country in the 50-over format.

The Blacks Caps great racked up 7,683 runs in 112 Tests and 1,909 in 102 T20 Internationals.

Ross Taylor marked the end of his record-breaking Test career with a rare wicket to clinch victory for New Zealand over Bangladesh in Christchurch.

The veteran batsman, who made his Test debut in November 2007 and scored 7,683 runs for the Black Caps in 112 games, enjoyed a fairy tale finish.

Captain Tom Latham invited the occasional off-spinner to have a bowl as New Zealand sought the final wicket they needed to wrap up an innings win.

It was just the eighth Test innings in which Taylor has bowled, and from his third delivery he had Ebadot Hossain caught by Latham at midwicket.

A slog by the Bangladesh number 11 went skywards before Latham showed composure to gather the falling ball.

That gave Taylor a third Test wicket and figures of 1-0, although his best figures remain the 2-4 he took against India in Ahmedabad in 2010.

New Zealand, for whom Latham made 252 in a first-innings total of 521-6, won the Test by an innings and 117 runs after bowling out the visitors for 278 second time around.

After the embarrassing defeat in Mount Maunganui last time out, it meant the two-Test series ended in a draw.

Taylor told broadcaster Spark Sport: "I suppose if you bowl in those situations a bit more often, you get the wicket. It's a great way to finish.

"We needed to win this game to stay in the series. I thought we played fantastically well.

"Bangladesh put us under pressure a lot of times. It's probably a fair reflection of where the series was at.

"But I wanted to finish with the win and the guys definitely gave that to me. The way we came out and bowled and put them under pressure after posting a very good total put us in good stead.

"It was an emotional game for me, my family and friends, and the team-mates as well, but it was good to get the win."

Legendary batter Ross Taylor will end his long international career at the conclusion of New Zealand's home summer.

Taylor has established himself as a Black Caps great, scoring a record 18,074 runs in 445 appearances for his country.

The classy 37-year-old made his New Zealand debut back in 2006 and has gone on to become the only player to feature in 100 games in all formats.

Taylor has crafted an incredible 40 hundreds for the Black Caps and made 93 half-centuries, averaging 44.87 in Tests, 48.20 in ODIs and 26.15 in Twenty20 Internationals.

The former New Zealand captain announced on the eve of the two-match Test series against Bangladesh that his international career will end in 2022 following ODIs versus Australia and the Netherlands.

"It's been an amazing journey and I feel incredibly fortunate to have represented my country for as long as I have," he said.

"It's been such a privilege to play with and against some of the greats of the game and to have created so many memories and friendships along the way.

"But all good things must come to an end and the timing feels right for me. I want to thank my family, friends and all those who have helped me get to this point.

"There'll be plenty of time for more thank yous and reflections later in the season – but for now I want all my energy and focus to be on preparing and performing for the Black Caps this summer."

Black Caps head coach Gary Stead said: "Ross has always been a hugely respected member of the side and we’re thankful for his contributions to the Black Caps over an incredible career.

"His skills and temperament as a batsman have been world-class and his ability to perform at such a high level for so long speaks volumes of his longevity and professionalism.

"His experience has held the side together on countless occasions and his catching record [346, the most by a New Zealand fielder] speaks for itself. There's no doubt we’re going to miss him when he's gone.

"Seeing him hit the winning runs in Southampton to help win our first ICC world title is a moment I will never forget and I'm sure it's the same for many of the fans.

"I know Ross is really focused on performing well in these remaining series and going out on the right note."

Among the many highlights in Taylor's career was his 290 against at the WACA in November 2015, the highest Test score by a visiting batter in Australia.

New Zealand claimed victory in the World Test Championship final as they chased down a fourth-innings target of 139 with eight wickets to spare at the Ageas Bowl.

Captain Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor combined in an unbroken 96-run stand as the Black Caps, so often the bridesmaids through the years, became the inaugural winners of the tournament in the final hour of play.

Rain had threatened to spoil the showpiece fixture in Southampton, but the addition by the International Cricket Council of a reserve day allowed for an absorbing conclusion to proceedings.

India had resumed in the morning on 64-2, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli at the crease looking to build on a precarious 32-run lead.

However, both overnight batsmen fell early in proceedings to the impressive Kyle Jamieson, Kohli caught behind for 13 before Pujara (15) fell soon after, leaving the score at 72-4 as New Zealand struck two huge blows.

It would have been even better had Tim Southee held onto a chance from Rishabh Pant when he was on just five, Jamieson the unfortunate bowler. The left-hander went on to top score with 41, a crucial knock in the circumstances.

Trent Boult dismissed Pant – caught superbly by Henry Nicholls having skied the ball high into the air – as he finished with figures of 3-39, also seeing off Ajinkya Rahane (15) and Ravindra Jadeja (16).

There were also two late wickets for Southee – who ended up with 4-48 in the innings – as India slipped from 142-5 to 170 all out.

Ravichandran Ashwin gave India a glimmer of hope when he removed both New Zealand openers, Tom Latham the first to go when stumped for nine before Devon Conway was trapped lbw having contributed 19.

Yet Williamson and Taylor, who finished 52 and 47 not out respectively, did not panic when coming together at 44-2, slowly building a partnership that would blossom with the finishing line in sight.

 

Standing tall on the biggest stage

Jamieson has been a revelation for the Black Caps in Test cricket. He finished with stunning match figures of 7-61 from 46 overs, of which 22 were maidens.

In total, 83 per cent of his deliveries were pitched outside off stump, the highest rate of any bowler for New Zealand. The plan worked too, as six of his seven wickets came from balls landing in that area.

Middling returns from big names

No Indian player managed to post a half-century. Pujara, Kohli and Rahane were crucial in helping their team qualify for the final, but their low returns in the game continued a recent trend.

Since the beginning of 2019, the trio have registered a combined total of six Test centuries. In the two years prior to that, however, they had 18 hundreds between them in the longest format.

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