Lucknow Super Giants bounced back to winning ways in the Indian Premier League as they defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad in a five-wicket victory on Friday.
The hosts recovered from their 12-run loss to Chennai Super Kings on Monday with an excellent all-round performance at BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Having lost the toss and been put into field, a ruthless bowling attack led by Krunal Pandya's superb 3-18 off four overs seriously restricted the visitors.
Despite solid knocks from Anmolpreet Singh (31) and Rahul Tripathi (34), the loss of captain Aiden Markram (0) and Harry Brook (3) saw the Sunrisers labour to 55-4 after nine overs.
The Super Giants continued to keep the overall runrate to a soft 6.05 per over, ultimately holding their opponents to a final total of 121-8, the lowest score of the IPL season so far.
A sharp start with the bat in response from openers Kyle Mayers (13) and KL Rahul (35) suggested Lucknow's subsequent chase would be something of a formality.
Wickets for Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-19) and Fazalhaq Farooqi (1-13) sparked hope of a top-order wobble though, with Deepak Hooda (7) caught and bowled by the former.
But backed for a 55-run third-wicket stand by Pandya (34), Rahul steered his side to the brink of victory, with Adil Rashid (2-23) and his late scare not enough to derail their score of 127-5.
Pandya turns screw early on
With Singh and Tripathi both offering strong resistance, it was imperative the Super Giants cut off the rest of their top order threat before they could get going.
The former's dismissal, immediately followed by Markram's duck in a devastating two-ball spell, saw Pandya get his side firmly on top in this game.
Rashid reinforces credentials
There has not been too much doubt over the England man's place in the national white-ball set-up ahead of this year's World Cup defence.
Nevertheless, his blistering late stint, where he claimed Rahul and Romario Shepherd in consecutive deliveries, will do him no harm as he pushes to cement his spot.
Dottin among nominees for ICC Women’s Player of the Month for October
West Indies all-rounder Deandra Dottin has been named among the three nominees for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award for the month of October.
Dottin made her comeback for the national side at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in the UAE, and was a driving force as the islanders reached their first semi-final at the event since 2018.
She was instrumental in victories over Scotland and Bangladesh, but saved her most valuable contributions for the latter stages, where she shone with the bat, ball and in the field in their group stage win over England, before producing a memorable individual display with 33 runs and four wickets in the thrilling semi-final defeat to eventual champions New Zealand.
Dottin will be going up against New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr and South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt for the award.
The nominees for the Men’s award are New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner, Pakistan’s Noman Ali and South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada.
Kevin Sinclair replaced by Junior Sinclair in Harpy Eagles Super50 squad after internal report to GCB
All-rounder Kevin Sinclair will take no further part in the Guyana Harpy Eagles CG United Super50 Cup campaign in Trinidad and Tobago. The decision made by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) followed the submission of an internal report by the Harpy Eagles' management team that it was necessary to replace the player.
The GCB, in making the revelation, also announced that Kevin Sinclair will be replaced by Junior Sinclair in the squad at the tournament.
Though the GCB’s statement did not clarify if sub-standard performance is the reason behind Kevin Sinclair’s ejection from the squad, it pointed out that it was a “necessary squad adjustment.”
“Following an internal report from the Guyana Harpy Eagles management, it has been decided that Kevin Sinclair will no longer be participating in this year’s competition,” the statement read.
In the three matches played in the Super50 Cup, Kevin Sinclair tallied 14 runs and snared three wickets.
He made 14 from 16 balls against Windward Volcanoes and took 2-66 from 10 overs in the same match.
However, he did not bat in the rained-out contest against Combined Campuses and Colleges Marooners and was dismissed without a score against Barbados Pride and only took 1-26 from 10 overs in that same match.
The Guyana Harpy Eagles are winless after three matches.
A similar situation arose last year during the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 tournament when organisers announced Kevin left the Guyana Amazon Warriors squad for “personal reasons.”
Kevin Sinclair’s departure opens the door for Junior Sinclair to take up a spot in the Harpy Eagles squad ahead of Tuesday’s contest against Leeward Islands Hurricanes at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.
Guyana Harpy Eagles Squad: Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Matthew Nandu, Tevin Imlach (captain), Kevlon Anderson, Kemol Savory, Junior Sinclair, Keemo Paul (vice-captain), Ronaldo Aimohamed, Veerasammy Permaul, Isai Thorne, Ashmead Nedd, Nial Smith, Sylus Tyndall, Rampertab Ramnauth.
Salt confirmed as England wicketkeeper despite Buttler return for West Indies T20Is
Phil Salt will be wicketkeeper in England’s upcoming T20I series against West Indies as white-ball captain Jos Buttler looks to improve his captaincy.
Buttler has been ruled out with a calf strain but will return to England's squad for the five-match T20I series that begins on Saturday.
Until now, Salt has kept in just 13 of his 59 England appearances across all formats but has taken up the mantle for the ongoing ODI series against West Indies.
Buttler, on the other hand, has donned the gloves in 106 of his 108 T20Is.
Salt, though, is enjoying his new role.
"It's not something I've done a lot for England recently, but I enjoy keeping. I feel like that's where I offer most to the side," Salt said, as reported by ESPN.
"We've not had a chat about anything going forward. I'm just glad to be doing it at the moment."
While Salt is not guaranteed the gloves after this series, he will find comfort in Buttler's intent to optimise his captaincy by experimenting with a role in the field.
"I was going to give up the gloves and commit to being at mid-off and see how that felt. If it will help me with my captaincy it is something I am open to," Buttler told Sky Sports in September after being ruled out of the T20 series against Australia.
England are tied 1-1 in their ODI series against the West Indies with the decider to be played on Wednesday.
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