Half-centuries from Andre Fletcher and Nicholas Pooran spurred MI Emirates to a convincing eight-wicket win over the Dubai Capitals at Sharjah and a place in Qualifier 2 to face Gulf Giants on Friday.

On the back of a three-wicket haul from Dwayne Bravo, the MI Emirates condemned the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders to their eighth defeat in nine games in the DP World IL T20 at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Friday.

The Emirates first posted 180-4 from their 20 overs after the Knight Riders won the toss and elected to field first.

The UAE’s Muhammad Waseem top scored with a 43-ball 60 including one four and six sixes while captain Kieron Pollard continued his excellent form throughout the season with 43 off just 17 deliveries including four fours and three sixes.

The Knight Riders reply fell short by 18 runs despite a top score of 42 from 22 balls from Andre Russell. His knock included five fours and two sixes.

Dwayne Bravo took 3-37 from his four overs while Imran Tahir and Zahoor Khan took two wickets each.

The Emirates have now booked a spot in the playoffs with a game to spare in the league phase.

Scores: MI Emirates 180-4 off 20 overs (Muhammad Waseem 60, Kieron Pollard 43) Abu Dhabi Knight Riders 162 off 19.2 overs (Andre Russell 42, Joe Clarke 22, Dwayne Bravo 3-37, Imran Tahir 2-20, Zahoor Khan 2-33).

Dwayne Bravo has retired from the IPL as a player, and taken over a position as the bowling coach at Chennai Super Kings.

"I'm looking forward to this new journey because it's something I see myself doing after my playing days is fully over," Bravo, 39, said in a franchise statement on Friday.

"I enjoy working with bowlers, and it's a role I'm excited about. From player to coach, I don't think I have to adjust much, because while I'm playing, I always work with bowlers and try to come up with plans and ideas on how to have that one step ahead of the batsmen.

"The only difference is I will no longer be standing at mid-on or mid-off! I never thought I would be the leading wicket taker in the history of IPL. But I'm just happy to be a part of IPL history!"

Bravo has played the IPL every year since it started in 2008 except in 2017, when an injury prevented him from turning out for Gujarat Lions. He had first been signed up by Mumbai Indians in 2008, and was with the team for three seasons before being bought by Super Kings at the 2011 auction. When Super Kings were suspended for two seasons - 2016 and 2017 - Bravo was picked by Lions, before being retained by Super Kings in 2018.

He finished with 183 wickets, the highest wicket-taker after 15 seasons of IPL, 13 more than the second-placed Lasith Malinga, and 17 more than the next active bowler with the most success: Yuzvendra Chahal. Bravo's wickets came at an economy rate of 8.38 over 158 innings in 161 games, with a best of 4 for 22. He also scored 1560 runs at a strike rate of 129.57.

One of the great death bowlers in the T20 game, Bravo bowled 1115 balls [36% of all his deliveries] between overs 17 and 20 and took 102 wickets in the phase. No-one else has bowled as many deliveries in the last four overs (Jasprit Bumrah is next with 1026) or taken as many wickets (Lasith Malinga is second on 90).

A part of West Indies' golden generation of T20 superstars, which won the T20 World Cup in 2012 and 2016, Bravo joins his long-time international team-mate into IPL retirement, while getting into coaching roles with their teams. Pollard announced his retirement as a player on November 15, and has joined Mumbai Indians, the team he was with throughout his career in the IPL, as a batting coach.

Like Pollard, Bravo hasn't quit as a player altogether. He is currently playing in the Abu Dhabi T10 with Delhi Bulls and has also been signed up by MI Emirates for the inaugural ILT20 in the UAE next year, where Pollard will be his captain. He was one of eight players Super Kings released by the retention deadline last month. At the time, though, it seemed like they might buy him back at the next auction, scheduled for December 23, as they had in 2021.

With Super Kings, the team he became an integral part of - synonymous almost - over the years, Bravo played 144 matches, picking up 168 wickets and scoring 1556 runs. He was involved in three of their four IPL triumphs - in 2011, 2018 and 2021; the only one he missed was in 2010, when he was still with Mumbai. While with Super Kings, he won the Purple Cap for the most wickets in 2013 (32 wickets) and 2015 (26 wickets). He remains one of two players - Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the other - to win the Purple Cap on two occasions.

"He has been a crucial member of the Super Kings family for more than a decade, and we are excited to continue the association," Kasi Viswanathan, the Super Kings chief executive, said. "Bravo's vast experience will be of immense value to our players and support staff. We are confident that our bowling group will thrive under his guidance."

Dwayne Bravo has lauded Kieron Pollard on his decision to retire from the Indian Premier League.

Sunrisers Hyderabad have released captain Kane Williamson on the back of a poor 2022 Indian Premier League season.

The New Zealand skipper scored just 216 runs from 13 innings at an average of 19.64 in the IPL this year.

Sunrisers on Tuesday announced that Williamson has not been retained by the franchise, who finished eighth last season.

Nicholas Pooran and Sean Abbott are among the other players who have not been kept on by Hyderabad.

It was also the end of an era for Mumbai Indians, with Kieron Pollard calling time on his IPL playing days and taking over as the franchise's batting coach.

Kolkata Knight Riders will have to do without Pat Cummins, Alex Hales and Sam Billings after the overseas trio opted out of the 2023 tournament.

Dwayne Bravo and Chris Jordan were among the players on the Chennai Super Kings' list of released players, while Jason Holder will not feature for Lucknow Super Giants.

Black Caps duo Daryl Mitchell and Jimmy Neesham will not return to Rajasthan Royals, while the same goes for South Africa batter Rassie Van Der Dussen.

West Indies ODI and T20I captain Nicholas Pooran and former West Indies captains Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard were among several West Indians to be released by their Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises on Tuesday’s deadline day to retain and release players.

While Pooran, Pollard, who announced his IPL retirement earlier on Tuesday, and Super Kings' Dwayne Bravo were the most high-profile West Indians not retained, there were several other younger players from the Caribbean who were released by their teams.

Along with Pooran, Sunrisers Hyderabad let go of Romario Shepherd, Lucknow Super Giants released Jason Holder and Evin Lewis, Mumbai released Fabian Allen, Royal Challengers Bangalore let go of Sherfane Rutherford, Punjab released Odean Smith and Gujarat Titans did not retain Dominic Drakes.

On the flip side, several West Indians were retained by their franchises.

Obed McCoy and Shimron Hetmyer were retained by the Rajasthan Royals, Alzarri Joseph was retained by defending champions the Gujarat Titans, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine will once again suit up for the Kolkata Knight Riders, Kyle Mayers was retained by Lucknow Super Giants and Rovman Powell was retained by the Delhi Capitals.

The released players will get their chance to be snapped up by another franchise at the IPL player auction which will be held on December 23 in Kochi.

St Kitts and Nevis Patriots captain Dwayne Bravo insists the team has plenty of work to do, despite a narrow 4-wicket win over the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) on Thursday.

The win was the first of the campaign for the Patriots, but it did not come easily.  In fact, chasing 162 for victory, the team seemed set for a third straight loss after needing 22 from the final over.  Some big hitting from Dwaine Pretorius, however, put away some wayward bowling by Romario Shepherd.

The team’s campaign began with losses to the Jamaica Tallawahs and Barbados Royals and despite getting on the board Bravo, who has himself battled injuries early on, believes the team has plenty of adjustments to make.

“Even with this win we still have a lot to improve and when we get into the dressing room we will highlight those moments,” Bravo said following the match.

“To restrict them to 160 odd we would have been happy at the halfway stage because they are a very good batting line-up.  We know they have quality spinners but with our line-up, we don’t believe spin is a threat to our line-up.  At key moments we kept giving our opposition some momentum to come back into the game.  These are the things we have to talk about, even though we won, we made a lot of mistakes.”

Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo and Nicholas Pooran are the latest big names from the Caribbean to sign up for the UAE's International League T20 (ILT20).

They join the likes of Andre Fletcher, Sheldon Cottrell, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shimron Hetmyer, Evin Lewis, Fabian Allen, Rovman Powell, Akeal Hosein, Raymon Reifer, Sherfane Rutherford, Ravi Rampaul, Kennar Lewis and Dominic Drakes as West Indians participating in the inaugural edition of the tournament.

Other big names participating include England's Moeen Ali and Alex Hales as well as Sri Lankan leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga.

The ILT20 is set to begin in January next year in the UAE and is competing with South Africa's T20 League for players. There will be six franchises consisting of 18 players each.

The 2023 edition of the ILT20 will have 34 matches. All the teams will play each other twice, before four playoffs, including the final, spread across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

Former West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo helped Worcestershire secure a 29-run win over Lancashire in their Vitality Blast North Group fixture at New Road on Friday.

Worcestershire posted a formidable 178-6 from their 20 overs after being sent in by Lancashire.

Opener Brett D’Oliveira (33) along with captain and England all-rounder Moeen Ali (31) were the main scorers while Kashif Ali (27) and New Zealander Colin Munro (26) also made valuable contributions.

Bravo, batting at number eight, played a decent cameo of 10 not out from five balls including one six.

Leg-spinner Luke Wells led the way with the ball for Lancashire with 2-26 from his four overs.

Lancashire’s reply can only be described as top-heavy as openers Phil Salt (44) and newly appointed England white ball captain Jos Buttler (42) were the only batsmen to pass 20 as they were dismissed for just 149 in 19.3 overs.

D’Oliveira capped off a fine all-round display with 4-20 from his four overs of leg-spin while Pat Brown and Moeen Ali took two wickets each.

Bravo, the leading wicket-taker in T20 history with 594 in 540 matches, added another to his tally with 1-26 from 3.3 overs.

Worcestershire remain at the bottom of the North Group with two wins, 10 losses, and one no-result from 13 games while Lancashire stay second with seven wins, four losses, and one no-result.

West Indies T20I and ODI captain Kieron Pollard was selected by the London Spirit with the first pick in the draft for the 2022 edition of The Hundred on Tuesday.

Pollard will join the likes of Mark Wood and Glenn Maxwell for the Spirit in the 100-ball per team tournament.

His Trinidadian countrymen Sunil Narine and Dwayne Bravo will turn out for the Northern Superchargers and Oval Invincibles, respectively, while Andre Russell was the first selection for the Manchester Originals. All four West Indians were taken at the highest price range of 125,000 pounds sterling.

The second edition of the Hundred will run from August 3-September 3. The inaugural edition in 2021 was won by the Southern Braves.

Four-time Caribbean Premier League Champions Trinbago Knight Riders have signed Jamaican all-rounder Andre Russell and middle-order batsman Nicholas Pooran for the 2022 season.

Evin Lewis smashed an unbeaten half-century propel the Lucknow Super Giants to a six-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings after Dwayne Bravo became the leading wicket-taker in Indian Premier League history.

Lucknow looked set for defeat when Quinton de Kock fell for 61 in their pursuit of 211 for a maiden IPL win, but Lewis stepped up with a blistering 23-ball 55 to stun CSK.

Robin Uthappa breezed to a 25-ball half-century before he was pinned in front for 50 by Ravi Bishnoi (2-24).

Moeen Ali continued the flurry of runs with his 35 off 22 deliveries, while Shivam Dube's clean striking in his 30-ball 49 along with MS Dhoni's brisk 16 propelled Chennai to an imposing total of 210-7.

De Kock and KL Rahul (40) shared an opening stand of 99 from 10.2 overs before the India batter was caught by Ambati Rayudu off Dwaine Pretorius.

Manish Pandey (five) followed soon after to Tushar Deshpande (1-40), with Bravo taking the catch, and Lucknow's chances seemingly diminished when De Kock skied a Pretorius slower ball to Dhoni.

Bravo (1-35) surpassed Lasith Malinga as he claimed his 171st wicket in the IPL by dismissing Deepak Hooda (13), but Lewis and Ayush Badoni, who raced to 19 off 9, saw the Super Giants to an unlikely victory with three balls to spare.

Lewis cuts loose after De Dock fireworks 

De Kock laid the platform for Lewis' late onslaught and the West Indies batter delivered in emphatic fashion.

The 30-year-old almost single-handedly turned the game on its head, launching three sixes and hitting six fours.

Bravo for Pretorius in losing cause

Pretorius claimed the two big wickets of openers Rahul and De Kock as he took 2-31, registering the lowest economy of any Super Kings bowler (7.75).

It was a memorable day for the 38-year-old Bravo, as the former West Indies captain returned 1-35 from his four overs, but he was unable to celebrate a victory.

Trinidadian all-rounder and former West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo made history on Thursday when he became the leading wicket-taker in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) during the Chennai Super Kings match against the Lucknow Super Giants in Brabourne.

Bravo took 1-35 from his four overs, his 171^st IPL wicket to move one ahead of Sri Lankan great Lasith Malinga.

His 171 wickets have come in 153 matches.

Bravo has played in the IPL since its inaugural season in 2008 and has represented three franchises-the Mumbai Indians, Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings.

The next highest West Indian on the list is Sunil Narine with 144 wickets in 136 matches.

At the time of publishing, Bravo’s Chennai Super Kings were trying to defend nine runs off the last over.

Kolkata Knight Riders eased to a six-wicket win in Saturday's 2022 IPL opener, with MS Dhoni unable to rescue a result for defending champions Chennai Super Kings in his first match since stepping aside as captain.

Dhoni skippered CSK to their fourth title in 2021, beating KKR in the tournament decider, before his shock decision to allow Ravindra Jadeja to lead the side this year – one of two notable changes that left the Super Kings looking a little short.

CSK first missed the steadying presence of the departed Faf du Plessis – Player of the Match in last year's final – at the top of the order and were in need of a lift from Jadeja when he arrived in the middle in the eighth over.

Instead, he had Ambati Rayudu run out and almost consigned Shivam Dube to the same fate before finally settling alongside Dhoni.

The 40-year-old still did much of the heavy lifting in their 70-run, 56-ball partnership, scoring 35 off his final 13 deliveries to reach an unbeaten 50 and allow Jadeja's (26 not out) innings-ending six to take the Super Kings to what they hoped would prove a competitive 131-5.

Ultimately, that was not enough, as 44 from KKR opener Ajinkya Rahane ensured the chase was always ahead of the game.

Three Dwayne Bravo wickets saw him draw level with Lasith Malinga's IPL record of 170, but Shreyas Iyer, KKR's own new captain, finished the job with his unbeaten 20.
 

Teething problems for first-time skipper

There were no safer pair of hands in the IPL last year than Jadeja's, as he made 13 catches – the most of any player excluding wicket-keepers. But this was a nervy bow as captain in his 201st IPL match, only looking remotely comfortable with the bat once Dhoni – walking in to huge applause – took control.

Similarly, Jadeja appeared far happier playing his natural game than making big calls in the second innings, taking a simple catch from Rahane but soon blowing a review on an lbw appeal that saw Sam Billings clearly glove the ball.

KKR's long wait for Wankhede win ended

KKR ultimately fell just short in the final, but they were happy to see the 2021 tournament shifted to the United Arab Emirates due to coronavirus. The Knight Riders had won only one of their previous six IPL matches in India.

They may well have feared this match at Wankhede Stadium then, a venue at which they had suffered eight successive defeats. However, a first KKR win here since May 2012 was secured with relative ease.

Andre Russell and Sunil Narine both had solid outings with the ball to help the Kolkata Knight Riders secure a six wicket win over defending champions Chennai Super Kings to kick off the 2022 Tata Indian Premier League at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday.

The Knight Riders won the toss and elected to field first, a decision which was proven right early as the Super Kings lost openers Ruturaj Gaikwad (0) and Devon Conway (3) in quick succession.

Despite a fighting 50 not out from former captain MS Dhoni, Chennai could only muster up 131-5 off their 20 overs.

Umesh Yadav bowled a fiery spell to finish with 2-20 from his four overs.

Narine went wicketless in his four overs while only conceding 15 runs and Russell took 1-38 from his four overs.

KKR then got through their chase with little resistance thanks to a top score of 44 from Ajinkya Rahane and solid contributions from Sam Billings (25) and Nitish Rana (21).

Captain Shreyas Iyer (20) and Sheldon Jackson (3) were at the crease when KKR got to 133-4 with nine balls to spare.

Despite the loss, Dwayne Bravo was excellent with the ball taking 3-20 from his four overs and, in the process, joining Sri Lankan great Lasith Malinga at the top of the all-time IPL leading wicket-takers list with 170.