Ajinkya Rahane played a starring role as Chennai Super Kings moved top of the Indian Premier League after beating Kolkata Knight Riders by 49 runs.
Rahane knocked an impressive 71 from just 29 balls - including five sixes - while Devon Conway and Shivam Dube also brought up 50 as the Kings recorded their third straight victory at Eden Gardens.
After the Knight Riders elected to bowl, Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad ensured a steady start for the Kings, who were 59-0 at the end of the Powerplay.
Suyash Sharma eventually broke the stand when he bowled Gaikwad for 35, but Conway and Rahane kept the Kings on track - the former bringing up the half-century off 34 balls.
Varun Chakaravarthy eventually claimed Conway for 59, but the Rahane-Dube partnership chalked up a combined 85 off 32 balls.
Kulwant Khejroliya eventually bowled Dube and Ravindra Jadeja, but Rahane was unbeaten as the Kings finished at 235-4.
But the Knight Riders' record chase stalled early on as they lost Sunil Narine and Jagadeesan Narayan inside the opening two overs.
Jason Roy boosted their quest with three successive sixes from Moeen Ali on his way to reaching 50 off just 19 balls, before eventually falling to Maheesh Theekshana for 61 (off 26).
Singh embarked on a late rally with an unbeaten 55 from 33 balls, but it proved academic as the Knight Riders fell short at 186/8 and suffered their fourth successive defeat.
Rahane leads the way
Rahane played an instrumental role in moving the Super Kings to the IPL summit. The former India captain top-scored with a quickfire 71 from just 29 balls.
Forming solid partnerships alongside Conway and Dube, he hit 11 boundaries during his impressive stand, including five stunning sixes.
Another 50 for Conway
The form of Conway has been pivotal in his side's impressive streak of form. Indeed, he has now scored a half-century in each of the Super Kings' last four victories.
Taking his tally of runs in this season's IPL to 314, Conway is second to only Faf du Plessis (405), who is also the only player to better his number of half-centuries in the competition (five).
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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