Rampaul celebrates after taking one of his three wickets against the Leeward Island Hurricanes
Trinidad & Tobago Red Force maintained their unbeaten run in the CG Insurance Super50 Cup with a nine-wicket win over Leeward Islands Hurricanes at Coolidge Cricket Ground on Wednesday night.
The Red Force bowled out the home side for 129 and then motored to 130-1 off 24.5 overs. It was their fourth win and earned them a spot in the semi-finals.
Sunil Narine, playing his 100th List A match, was brilliant as he took 3-36 from his 10 overs. One of his wickets came from a perfectly flighted off-break which turned a long way and rattled the stumps of Terrence Warde.
However, fast bowler Ravi Rampaul was named the CG Insurance Man-of-the-Match for his excellent new-ball spell and took 3-17 from seven overs.
The top score for the Hurricanes came from opener Kieran Powell (29), while Hayden WalshJjr chipped in with 26.
The Red Force them reached the target with little bother as Kjorn Ottley and Jason Mohammed shared an unbroken second-wicket partnership of 93. Ottley made 47 not out with six fours and a six over cover, while Mohammed remained unbeaten on 40 off 55 balls with four boundaries.
Evin Lewis gave the innings a flying start as he smashed two sixes and three fours in 28 off 27 balls, but fell, caught at point off pacer Quinton Boatswain.
Rampaul was quite pleased with his contribution and the outcome.
“I am very happy with the performance of all our bowlers throughout this tournament. I’ve been putting some hard work in the conditions and I reaped the rewards today (Wednesday),” he said at the conclusion of the match.
“It feels great to get the Man-of-the-Match. It’s always a pleasure to play for my country and I’m really enjoying it. I grew up playing with a lot of my team-mates and it’s been good fun. We believe we can win and we want to win."
Thursday: Windward Islands Volcanoes vs Barbados Pride at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. First ball is 9 am (8 am Jamaica Time).
Ireland shock Pakistan in T20I opener
Ireland shocked Pakistan with a five-wicket victory in the first T20I at Clontarf, with Andrew Balbirnie starring for the hosts.
Balbirnie plundered 77 from 55 balls, including 10 fours and two sixes, and his partnership of 76 with Harry Tector (36) edged Ireland closer to victory.
Curtis Campher (15*) and Gareth Delany (10*) saw them over the line to secure the win with one ball to spare.
Despite an early setback, Pakistan started strong, with Babar Azam hitting 57 and Saim Ayub adding 45.
However, Craig Young’s strong performance saw him take 2-27 as Ireland took control to limit the visitors in the later stages as Azam Khan and Shadab Khan both walked without getting any runs.
The sides will meet again at the Dublin venue on Sunday and Tuesday.
Data Debrief:
Ireland achieved their target of 183 against Pakistan successfully today, making it their highest run chase against a full-member side in men's T20Is.
Ireland's first win against Pakistan came at the 2007 World Cup and 17 years later they secured a first victory over them in T20 cricket.
IPL: Titans broke records to move off the foot of the table
Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill wrote their names into the history books as the Gujarat Titans earned a 35-run victory over Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League on Friday to move eighth.
The pair contributed to a sensational 210 runs between them for the opening wicket – the joint-highest opening stand in IPL history – as the Titans set CSK a daunting target of 232.
Gill was the first to reach his century in the 17th over, plundering 104 off 55 balls, but Sudharsan followed shortly after, hitting 103 off 51 before Tushar Deshpande got both out within the next five balls.
The Titans only added a further 41 runs to finish with 231-3 but stifled CSK when they stepped up to bat.
The Super Kings were 10 for three down inside the first two overs before Daryl Mitchell (63) and Moeen Ali (56) got them into their stride.
Mohit Sharma ensured the Titans ended strongly, finishing with figures of 3-31 to limit CSK to 196-8, leaving them with a tough task to reach the play-offs as they remain in fourth.
Data Debrief: GT history makers
Sudharsan, whose knock included five fours and seven maximums, and Gill, who helped himself to nine fours and six maximums, both scored their first centuries in the IPL this season.
Along the way, Gill and Sudharsan pushed the IPL century count past 100.
IPL: Kohli shines as RCB maintain winning run against Kings
Virat Kohli's superb knock of 92 helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a fourth straight win in the Indian Premier League on Thursday as they kept their playoff hopes alive with a 60-run triumph over Punjab Kings.
Kohli smashed seven fours and six sixes in his 47 balls faced as the Challengers set the Kings a daunting target of 241, with Rajat Patidar also bringing up his half-century and Cameron Green (46 off 27) falling just short of doing so.
The Kings pulled off the biggest run chase in IPL history less than two weeks ago, but their hopes of another comeback were dealt a huge blow when Faf du Plessis took a wonderful over-the-shoulder catch to send Jonny Bairstow packing with Punjab at 71-1.
Kohli's contribution wasn't only limited to the bat, as he produced a stunning run out of Shashank Singh, haring onto the scene to send wickets flying with an underarm throw as Shashank failed to make it back by mere inches.
It was then up to Mohammed Siraj to polish off the Punjab tail, finishing with figures of 3-43 as the Kings fell to back-to-back defeats, keeping them ninth in the standings.
Data Debrief: Kohli leads the way
Having previously claimed the honour in 2016, Kohli leads the way in the race for the 2024 Orange Cap, another impressive innings taking him to 634 runs for the campaign.
Averaging 70.44 with a strike rate of 153.51, Kohli put further distance between himself and Chennai Super Kings' Ruturaj Gaikwad, whose 541 runs put him second in the standings.
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