South African and Chennai Super Kings fast bowler, Lungi Ngidi, has credited West Indies T20 star Dwayne Bravo with playing a pivotal role in his strong start to the 2021 IPL season.
The towering speedster earned widespread plaudits after putting together an extraordinarily economical 3 for 28, in a high-scoring encounter against Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday.
With some 422 runs scored in the match, Ngidi, who was tasked with death bowling duties after replacing Bravo in the line-up, had a solid economy rate of 7.00. The South African’s skills and variations were on full display after he trapped an attacking Dinesh Karthik with a slower ball dismissal, a delivery that would surely have pleased his West Indian tutor.
“There was a lot of pressure, Bravo has been doing very well for CSK. So, I had to come in and fill his shoes,” Ngidi told the IPL’s official website.
“I have worked very closely with Bravo on the slower bowls at the death. One of the slower bowls he has been teaching me for a long time came off and got us a wicket.”
In the end, CSK won by 18 runs, in no small part thanks to Faf Du Plessis’ brutal, unbeaten 95 from 60 deliveries. The 37-year-old Bravo was rested for the encounter, due to workload concerns.
West Indies fast bowler, Alzarri Joseph, put in another solid performance for English County Cricket club Worcestershire, against Nottinghamshire, at New Road One cricket ground on Thursday.
At the end of the first day, Joseph remained unbeaten on 46 from 81 balls and sharing in an eighth-wicket stand worth 89 runs with Ed Barnard. The partnership took Worcestershire to 305 for 7, after looking in some trouble at 216 for 7 earlier on.
The total marks Joseph’s second 40+runs innings of the young season, having opened up with 46 from 55 against Derbyshire last week. On that occasion, the bowler also chipped in with 3 wickets drawing commendation from Worcestershire coach, Alex Gidman, who praised the player's mentality.
When play resumes Joseph could be looking for his first half-century in the competition, having signed a seven-game deal with Worcestershire for the first part of the season a few weeks ago.
The 24-year-old has taken 37 wickets from 15 Tests and shown plenty of ability with the bat of late, scoring half-centuries on successive Test tours of New Zealand and Bangladesh.
Former Indian bowler Ajit Agarkar believes an out of sorts Chris Gayle creates a tricky situation for Punjab Kings XI who may be hesitant to drop the player.
The 41-year-old game began the season on a good note, scoring 40 from 28 balls in the first match, a victory against Rajasthan Royals. The veteran batsman has struggled to connect since then, scoring 10, 11, and 15 in the team’s next three games. The Kings have lost all three for a 1-3 start to the season.
Agarkar believes at this age, the Kings must weigh closely the benefits of keeping Gayle in the line-up, if he is not scoring the required runs.
"I don't know, he started well. He got 40 in the first game. The challenge with Chris Gayle is that he did not play the first few games last season and then came back, and he was as good as ever. So, I can understand it is a difficult decision to sit him out," Agarkar told Espncricinfo.
"If he is it and when he has done well, you always want to accommodate him. How long can you go on if he is not firing, especially at this stage of his career?" he asked.
Last season, Gaye was left out of the line-up for the team’s first 6 games but returned to play a pivotal role in their run for a place in the play-offs, following another slow start. Gayle is not the only West Indian struggling at the moment, however, as Nicholas Pooran, a standout performer last season has only scored 9 runs in fours games, including three ducks.
"Their problem is that Nicholas Pooran is not scoring run either, who they must have had high hopes from. It's a tricky one. I don't know how long they can keep playing Chris Gayle if he is not getting runs.”
A wretched start to the Indian Premier League (IPL) continued for Windies and Punjab Kings XI batsman, Nicholas Pooran, as he was dismissed for a third duck in just four games against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday.
Last season, Pooran lit up the tournament as one of the competition’s most in-form players, scoring an impressive 353 runs in 14 games, with an average of 35. He clearly has not started this campaign at a similar pace.
In four matches so far, the batsman has scored just nine runs, and that was in one match. In the others, he has left the crease much too quickly to trouble the tally.
In addition to just the wretched run of form, however, some fans have poked fun at the order of the player’s scoreless dismissals.
He was dismissed for a two balls duck against the Rajasthan Royals in his side's first game. He was then out for a first-ball duck against the Chennai Super Kings. On Wednesday, Pooran got out for a diamond duck, without even facing a ball as he was run out as soon as he came to the crease. Punjab Kings XI, who could muster only 120 runs in their 20 overs, lost the match by eight wickets and have recorded one win in their first four games.
West Indies legend Brian Lara has tipped for T20 captain, Jason Holder, as the Windies player who could shine most brightly in the India Premier League (IPL) this season.
The all-rounder was retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for the new campaign, after only coming in as a substitute for Australian Mitchell Marsh last season.
Holder went on to score 66 runs, in seven matches, at an average of 33, and claimed 14 wickets, the third most on the team despite playing less than half the games. Lara, who is part of a commentary panel for this season’s tournament, has tipped the player to carry on in the same vein.
“Jason Holder could do pretty well. He ended up replacing Mitchell Marsh in the 2020 IPL, so I expect him to maybe come up with trumps this year,” Lara told StarSports.
“The tracks are not so favourable to the pace where he is playing at present, but he is such a good all-round player that I hope he can maintain his play and really show that the West Indians are here to stay,” he added.
Holder could, however, have plenty of competition for the top West Indian player with the likes of Kieron Pollard, Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, and Nicholas Pooran also taking part in this season’s competition.
A yet-to-be-settled dispute currently roiling South Africa cricket threatens to scupper the team’s chances of touring the West Indies later this year.
The Proteas have been tentatively scheduled to tour the Caribbean in June of this year, most likely in Trinidad and Tobago, but a dispute between Cricket South Africa (CSA) and the government could lead to its cancellation.
The issue stems from the government's request that Cricket South Africa (CSA) adopt a new constitution for cricket administration in the country. In a recent meeting, however, CSA voted against adopting the measure. The country’s sports minister is as a result said to be considering taking serious measures against the board.
One option could be to take away the body’s right to designate itself as the official national representative of the country. As such, CSA could not then select a national team for the tour of the Caribbean.
South Africa is one of several countries that are lined up to tour the Caribbean this year, as the region looks to recover from the financial setback of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sri Lanka toured the region last month and Australia and Pakistan are also expected to tour the Caribbean later this year. The South Africa series was previously reported to consist of two Tests and five T20s.
Former England captain turned cricket analyst. Michael Vaughan. has questioned the overall fitness of West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell, despite the player’s fair start to the Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
In the second game of the campaign for the Kolkatta Knight Riders, Russell cleaned up the Mumbai Indians' tail for career-best figures of 5-15. In the same match, however, the player was unable to finish the job with the bat as the Knight Riders slumped to a dramatic 10-run defeat as Russell added 9 from 15.
Vaughan pointed to the batsman’s work in the field and running between the crease as evidence the big hitter is not quite at his best.
“You got a player like Andre Russell, who has been a superstar, but on the field, when the ball is coming to him, he is always using his feet. He is obviously someone who cannot go down. It’s a very clever and careful aspect which Eoin Morgan will have to manage,” Vaughan told Cricbuzz.
“When he (Andre Russell) is at his best, he is great. But when you see him on the field, and when is bowling, he appears to be struggling. While batting he is not taking the twos,” he added.
“He needed to take the twos in the 19th over. Because you want him back on strike. Very difficult to manage for Brendon McCullum and Eoin Morgan.”
The Knight Riders have won 1 of their first 3 matches.
Hot shooting from Manhattan Jaspers forward, Warren Williams, provided just a drop in the bucket as Jamaica suffered a lopsided 52-94 defeat at the hands of Nicaragua, at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Central American and Caribbean Pre-Qualifiers on Saturday.
Williams was an immovable force on the low block, as he scored 24 points off 63 percent shooting, and was just shy of a double-double after also grabbing 9 rebounds. He was, however, the only Jamaica player in the line-up to get to double figures.
The effort was dwarfed by the Nicaraguan trio of Jared Ruiz, Norchad Omier, and Larel Pacheco. Ruiz led the way with 26 points but also filled out the rest of the stat sheet with 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Omier and Pacheco were perfect from the field, scoring 14 and 12 points, respectively. Omier also grabbed 13 rebounds to register a useful double-double.
The Central Americans got off to a strong start and found themselves leading the Caribbean team 27-11 at the end of the first quarter and led 49-21 by halftime, before cruising the rest of the way to victory.
The loss was the first of the tournament for the Jamaicans, who recorded a 69-67 win over Costa Rica in their opener and a 107-87 win over Guyana.
Big-hitting West Indian batsman, Kieron Pollard, joined elite Indian Premier League (IPL) company when became one of only a handful of players to hit 200 sixes, during Mumbai Indians' third match of IPL 2021 against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
After a slow start to the campaign, Pollard exploded into life on Saturday hitting 35 from just 22 balls, lifting Mumbai to 150. The West Indian’s knock consisted of three sixes, in the end playing a crucial role in a 13-run win.
Pollard became the 6th batter to get past 200 sixes in the IPL. The list is led by his compatriot Gayle who has hit 351 sixes, 114 more than 2nd-placed AB de Villiers. Rohit Sharma is third on the list followed by MS Dhoni. Pollard went level with Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli after finishing the Mumbai Indians innings on Saturday with 201 sixes.
Pollard is, however, the only man among the top 10 on the list for most boundaries in the IPL with more sixes than fours — 201 sixes, 199 fours. Pollard also became only the third overseas player after Gayle and de Villiers to hit 200 sixes.
Jamaica discus thrower, Shadae Lawrence, registered a fourth consecutive win after taking first place at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational meet on Friday.
Lawrence recorded a distance of 57.86m, finishing well clear of the rest of the field. Finishing in second was the University of Miami’s Kristina Rakočević who recorded 51.80m, with Jalani Davis (Ole Miss) third with a distance of 51.32.
The win for the Jamaican national record holder follows up on a victory last week at the USA Track & Field (USATF) Sprint Summit. Elsewhere, former Jamaica College jumper Clayton Brown also claimed the top spot in the men’s high jump. Brown took first place with a leap of 2.21m, ahead of Old Miss’ Allen Gordon who took second in 2.16m. Third place went to Louisville’s Trey Allen who recorded 2.11m.
In the Men's 200 Dash Olympic Development Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem Richards clocked 20.30 to secure second place, behind the United States’ Fred Kerley who took the top spot in 20.24. Erriyon Knighton was third in 20.39.
West Indies batsman, Kyle Mayers, thinks losing the captaincy may have been a blessing in disguise for all-rounder Jason Holder, who he thinks is freer to be more himself without the additional responsibility.
After seven years in charge, Holder was replaced as captain of the Test team last month by Kraigg Brathwaite. Brathwaite was himself promoted to the post after successfully taking charge during a successful tour of Bangladesh, which Holder had opted out of, along with 11 other players.
The change in circumstances has, however, not affected Holder’s play on the field and, equally importantly, he has been vocal with his encouragement of teammates on the field. The previously mentioned characteristic is one many of his critics believe was absent during the majority of his tenure as captain.
“Jason brought a different personality to the dressing room than what was in Bangladesh and it’s been working out nicely, especially the hard times in the field, Jason has been behind the guys, pushing us to do well. I think him being skipper stopped that for a few years,” Mayers told SportsMax.tv’s The Commentators podcast.
“That’s the type of person he actually is. A jovial person, always making fun, talking a lot. I guess as captain being focused on the game, he couldn’t do that as much but now he is free, probably just trying to play as well as he can and be as free as he can,” he added.
“For me, if you are enjoying cricket more and you have less to worry about, it should make you better. You focus more on yourself.”
Catch the full episode of The Commentators podcast below
Australia Open champion, Naomi Osaka, has described watching Jamaica sprint king Usain Bolt performing at the Olympics as her most memorable moment.
Bolt, who retired from the sport of track and field in 2017, will not be competing at the Games in Tokyo this summer but in many ways still looms large over a sport he dominated for close to a decade.
At the 2016 Rio Games, the last time the event was held, Bolt destroyed the field in typical fashion, en route to three gold medals in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m. On debut, at the 2008 Beijing Games, Bolt set massive world records in both the 100m and 200m sprints.
Overall, Bolt finished his csareer with 8 Olympic gold medals. With such dominant performances, it is little wonder that Osaka, who has Caribbean roots herself with her father hailing from the island of Haiti, enjoyed watching the Jamaican in his prime. Osaka, who is likely to attempt to win a gold medal for Japan this summer, recently shared what the quadrennial event has meant to her over the years.
“When I think of the Olympics, what comes to mind is, of course, the opening ceremony, just seeing all the people being so happy,” Osaka said in an interview posted on the ITF official website.
“My like most outstanding Olympic memory is just watching Bolt run. He’s my favorite athlete and for my whole family. My dad really loves his running so we would just like to watch him.”
Former Jamaica U-23 and Montego Bay United forward, Deshane Beckford, is expected to join USL Championship club Colorado Switchbacks on a season-long loan.
The move will mark the second for the Jamaica national over the past several years, after first joining the Rio Grande Valley FC Toros at the end of 2019. Beckford also spent the 2020 season with the Toros.
In 22 USL Championship appearances, the forward has scored three goals. Brown put himself on the radar of the USL after a strong performance at the 2019 Pan American Games where he scored three goals for Jamaica in three games. The forward also previously represented Jamaica at the U-17 level.
The move remains dependent on the player renewing a work visa, but Beckford expressed delight with the opportunity to continue plying his trade in the US second division.
“I'm grateful to be a part of the Switchbacks, the players and staff have been really positive,” Beckford told USL Championship.com.
“I'm excited for the upcoming season.”
The 23-year-old previously trialed for West Ham in 2015. Colorado Springs coach Brendan Burke welcomed Beckford’s addition to the line-up.
“Deshane is a player that impressed us immensely during his performance with the Jamaican U23 team in the Pan American Games,” Burke said.
“His pace, soft feet, and nose for goal should add another weapon to our still-evolving group of forwards.”
Promising West Indies batsman, Kyle Mayers, has expressed confidence at the prospect of becoming a top international Test cricket all-rounder, on the back of encouraging displays with both the bat and ball in recent months.
The attacking-minded Mayers burst on the scene with a stroke-filled 210 unbeaten in the first Test against Bangladesh, in February of this year. However, against Sri Lanka last month, the player also had a good turn with the ball. Not only extracting movement from a placid pitch but taking four wickets in the process, with just a short spell.
The display prompted some pundits to suggest that the player had the ability to become a dependable all-rounder for the squad if he could improve his overall fitness.
Bowling would not have been entirely new to Mayers, however, as he was at one point considered more of a bowling all-rounder, having claimed 71 wickets in 30 first-class matches at an average of 21.54. Having displayed more prowess with the bat in recent months, Mayers is convinced that he can do both at the highest level in the mold of former West Indies captain Jason Holder, or England’s Ben Stokes, the world’s top-ranked all-rounders.
“I have it in me to do it. I just have to become fitter,” Mayer’s told SportsMax’s The Commentators podcast.
“I just started Test cricket and people think watching it on tv, it’s very easy, it’s very hard. I will always say that, and I will always let young people coming up know that if you want to play Test cricket you need to work very hard,” he added.
“Preparation is key for me to be up there with Jason. It will take that hard work, but I believe I can do it for sure. Having number one and maybe number two in the world can’t be so bad. If they had two of the world’s best all-rounders the guys would be happy.”
Catch full interview in the Podcast below
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