Former Australia captain Aaron Finch and ex-South Africa skipper Quinton de Kock are among the first overseas names for Major League Cricket's inaugural season.

The pair were among six non-domestic players assigned during Sunday's draft at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Australia duo Marcus Stoinis and Mitchell Marsh, along with South Africa's Anrich Nortje and Sri Lanka's Wanindu Hasaranga were also included as overseas participants.

Major League Cricket – the first professional T20 league in the United States – will consist of six franchises in its debut year, as cricket looks to build a foothold in the country.

The ICC are hopeful the sport will be included in the 2028 Olympic Games, to be held in Los Angeles, where one of the half-dozen teams will be based.

Finch, who retired from T20Is in February, will captain San Francisco Unicorns, where he will be joined by compatriot Stoinis and England's Liam Plunkett, who qualifies as a domestic player through his American wife.

The pace bowler, who was a member of the successful England team from the 2019 Cricket World Cup, previously played in Minor League Cricket, the developmental league for MLC.

De Kock is set to play for Seattle Orcas alongside Marsh, while Nortje and Hasaranga will turn out for Washington Freedom.

The three remaining sides – Texas Super Kings, Los Angeles Knight Riders and MI New York – are yet to add an overseas player, though each drafted nine US-based players on Sunday.

The tournament will take place over three weeks at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas between July 13 and 30.

David Warner will captain Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League this season in the absence of injured regular skipper Rishabh Pant.

The Capitals confirmed on Thursday that Warner had been selected to stand in for Pant, who is recovering from a serious car accident.

Pant's car caught fire in December causing multiple injuries that required surgery earlier this year. He has been ruled out of cricket for 2023.

Head coach Ricky Ponting was among the figures to make the decision to name Warner as captain, meaning Axar Patel will again serve as vice-captain as he did in the 2022 campaign.

"Rishabh has been a terrific leader for Delhi Capitals, and we're all going to miss having him around," Warner said in a team statement.

"I would like to thank the management for the faith and trust they've always shown in me.

"This franchise has always been home for me, and I couldn't be more excited to lead such a supremely talented bunch of players."

Warner was an IPL winner with Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016 and returned to Delhi last season, having previously played for the franchise when they were known as the Daredevils.

The batter is set to play in a three-match ODI series for Australia against India ahead of the IPL, which starts on March 31.

He will be spending much of the year in India, with those two commitments helping his preparation for the Cricket World Cup, which is being held in the country from October.

Warner, 36, was the leading run-scorer for the Capitals in last year's IPL, tallying five fifties and a total of 432 runs at an average of 48 and a strike rate of 151.

However, Delhi narrowly missed making the play-offs, the first time in four seasons they had failed to qualify. Gujarat Titans took the title in their first season.

Player of the Match Kieron Pollard and Sheldon Cottrell combined to lead Multan Sultans to a commanding 84-run win over the Lahore Qalanders and book a place in the finals of the Pakistan Super League for the third year running.

Pollard’s 57 from 34 balls during a 65-run partnership with Tim David after Multan Sultans lost Usman Khan for 29, Mohammad Rizwan for 33 and Rilee Rossouw for 13 to be 90-3 in the 13^th over. The powerfully built Trinidadian smashed one four and six sixes, three of them coming off the bowling of Shaheen Afridi in the 19^th over that yielded 20 runs.

He was eventually bowled by Haris Rauf in the final over in which Multan Sultans also lost the wicket of Khushdil the very next ball.

David remained unbeaten on 22 watched from the other end as Rauf finished with figures of 3-34 when the innings closed at 160-5.

Needing eight runs an over for victory, Lahore Qalanders found the going tough at 15-2 as Cottrell dismissed Mirza Baig for eight and Abdullah Shafique for a duck in the third over. Anwar Ali bowled Fakhar Azam for six and Lahore were quickly in deep trouble on 19-3.

Cottrell picked up his third wicket when he dismissed Afridi for a duck in the fifth over to make it 28-4. Pollard got rid of Sikandar Raza for one as Lahore crumbled towards defeat.

Sam Billings scored 19 and Rauf 15 but wickets continued to regularly as Lahore folded for 76 in 14.3 overs.

Cottrell finished with 3-20 while Pollard took 1-3 from the only over he bowled.

Bangladesh completed a fine run chase to upset a weakened England in the opening T20I as Najmul Hossain Shanto's half-century helped the hosts to a six-wicket victory.

Without a host of big names in Chattogram, including Ben Stokes and Harry Brook, the world champions toiled in the second half of their innings and made only 156-6.

England then failed to make sufficient headway with the ball as the hosts kicked off the three-match series with a surprise win.

The tourists initially looked set for a routine victory following an impressive opening stand of 80 from Phil Salt (38) and captain Jos Buttler (67), but they stuttered thereafter.

Mustafizur Rahman's fierce 16th-over delivery to remove Ben Duckett (20) was the catalyst for Bangladesh's assault, with Shanto clinging onto Buttler's leg-side drive from the very next ball.

Having provided the delivery which accounted for Buttler, Hasan Mahmud also sent Sam Curran packing as England's rate continued to slow.

Bangladesh recovered from the early losses of Rony Talukdar (21) and Litton Das (12) after taking up the bat, with Shanto's knock of 51 supported by Towhid Hridoy (24) and skipper Shakib Al Hasan (34no).

Even Mark Wood sending stumps flying to end Shanto's stay did nothing to slow Bangladesh's progress, as Shakib finished off a clinical chase by finding the boundary with 12 balls remaining.

Significant scalp for Bangladesh

Bangladesh entered Thursday's contest having lost seven of their last nine T20Is, with World Cup triumphs over Zimbabwe and the Netherlands their only wins in that run.

However, after winning the third and final ODI against England on Monday, they carried that form into the shorter format to turn the world champions over in comfortable fashion at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.

Shanto leads the way

While the experience of Shakib helped Bangladesh over the line, Shanto's excellent knock set them on their way to a textbook chase.

Shanto's half-century was his third in T20Is, following knocks of 71 against Zimbabwe and 54 against Pakistan at the World Cup last year.

Aiden Markram has taken over as South Africa's Twenty20 International captain after Temba Bavuma vacated the role following his appointment as Test skipper.

Bavuma was dropped from the T20I squad altogether for the upcoming three-match series against West Indies later this month after he was named Test captain in February.

The batter will continue to lead the ODI team, but Markram will captain his country in the shortest format having averaged 38.21 runs in 27 innings since making his debut in 2019.

South Africa director of cricket Enoch Nkwe said: "I would like to congratulate Aiden on his appointment as captain of the Proteas T20I team.

"Leadership is extremely familiar to him having successfully led on so many levels. He is a player that inspires confidence and he has all the qualities to succeed in the role. We have no doubt will help take South Africa to the next level.

"At the same time, we would like to thank Temba for filling the position so aptly over the past two years. He has done a commendable job during this period and now has a new role to fulfil within the national set-up."

The squad did not include Faf du Plessis, who was reportedly keen on making a return to the team under new white-ball coach Rob Walter after retiring from Test cricket early in 2021.

Meanwhile, fast bowlers Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada have been left out of the squad for the three upcoming ODIs, though they will return for the following T20I series.

Nortje was on Monday ruled out of the second Test against the Windies this week due to a groin issue.

Cricket South Africa also confirmed JP Duminy has been appointed as permanent white-ball batting coach.

A blazing half-century from Rovman Powell helped lift Peshawar Zalmi to a 24-run victory over Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League at Rawalpindi on Wednesday.

Powell smashed six fours and four sixes in a 34-ball 64 that propelled Peshawar Zalmi to 197-5 from their 20 overs.

The final score was testament to a remarkable recovery after Mohammad Amir had dismissed Mohammad Haris and Babar Azam for ducks in the opening first over and Saim Ayub for one in his second to have Peshawar Zalmi reeling at 3-2 in the third over.

The repair work began with Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Haseebullah Khan who counter-attacked with aplomb, the latter racing to an even 50 from just 29 balls from which he hit four fours and three sixes during their partnership of 82.

He was eventually dismissed by Tabraiz Shamsi, which brought Powell to the crease.

The Jamaican picked up from where Khan left off plundering the Karachi Kings bowling during a partnership of 85 from 51 balls before Amir had him caught behind in the 19^th over. By then Peshawar Zalmi has recovered to 169-5.

Aamer Jamal and Kohler-Cadmore added 28 from the last nine balls to what turned out to be the winning total. Kohler-Cadmore remained unbeaten on 56 while Jamal got his unbeaten 13 from just five balls.

Mohammad Amir was the pick of the bowlers taking 4-26.

The Karachi Kings made a proper go at the target with opener Matthew Wade scoring 53. However, they lost wickets regularly which slowed their momentum despite an unbeaten 57 from Imad Wasim, who clubbed 10 fours and a six in his 30-ball knock.

Azmatullah Omarzai and Jamal did the damage for Peshawar Zalmi with hauls of 3-28 and 3-43, respectively that ripped apart the Karachi Kings middle order.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman played his part dismissing Wade and Irfan Kkan to return figures of 2-28 as Karachi Kings ran out of balls at 173-8.

The 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) generated a huge economic impact for Guyana as the country hosted the finals for the very first time as part of the newly created Cricket Carnival.

The total economic impact for Guyana in 2022 was S$84,425,587, a 186 per cent increase on the figure from the last time the country hosted Hero CPL matches in 2019.

The vision of His Excellency Irfaan Ali in showcasing the country’s many creative and social attributes whilst making the country the entertainment capital of the region for two weeks in September, led to the most successful hosting of any CPL finals.

Businesses across the country benefited from the significant uplift of in-bound tourism during September last year, as people travelled to be part of the Biggest Party in Sport. The fans certainly didn’t disappoint with almost 50,000 attending the playoff games alone.

With CPL spending more time in Guyana than previous years along with the change to the tournament structure where all six teams, TV production crew and tournament staff travelled as one cohort CPL’s direct spend increased significantly, with one metric showing a total of 25,783 hotel room nights filled across the tournament, a 236 per cent increase on the figure from 2019.

This report was generated by independent, world-renowned research company, YouGov Sport, with the make-up of the values including the total spent by Hero CPL to put on the 2022 event, the value of media exposure for the country from the broadcast of matches and the money spent with local business by those who travelled into Guyana for the tournament.

The total viewership for the 2022 Hero CPL also smashed all records as it increased to 721.8million. This is the third successive year that the tournament has generated a viewership figure of over half a billion.

“The reception for the Hero CPL in Guyana last year exceeded anything we have seen before, and we are hugely grateful for the vision of His Excellency Irfaan Ali, who masterminded the Cricket Carnival concept and showed how cricket can deliver significant economic value when planned alongside other entertainment initiatives,” said Pete Russell, Hero CPL CEO.

“We are so grateful for the amazing support we continue to receive in Guyana and are thankful that we have been able to repay the country with these fantastic numbers. We can’t wait to make an even bigger impact in 2023."

Former limited-overs England captain Eoin Morgan has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.

Morgan oversaw a transformation of England's white-ball fortunes after taking the captaincy in 2014, guiding the team to World Cup success in the 50-over format at Lord's in 2019.

The left-handed batsman, who was succeeded as skipper by Jos Buttler upon his international retirement last June, also helped England to the T20 World Cup final in 2016 and the semi-finals of the same competition five years later.

In a statement released on social media on Monday, Morgan said: "It is with great pride that I am announcing my retirement from all forms of cricket. 

"After much deliberation, I believe that now is the right time to step away from the game that has given me so much over the years.

"As there are in every sportsperson's career, there have been highs and lows, but my family and friends have been by my side throughout it all. 

"Thanks to cricket, I have been able to travel the world and meet incredible people, many of whom I have developed lifelong friendships with.

"Since my retirement from international cricket, I have been able to spend more time with my loved ones, and I look forward to being able to do so more and more in the future. Having said that, I will undoubtedly miss the adventure and challenges of playing professional cricket."

Having switched allegiances to England after making his international debut with Ireland in 2006, Morgan scored 7,701 ODI runs – 6,957 for England – during his career, while his 225 ODIs and 115 T20Is represent England appearance records in the respective formats.

England's white-ball sides have continued to go from strength to strength since Morgan passed on the captaincy to Buttler, capturing the T20 World Cup with a five-wicket final win over Pakistan in Melbourne last November.

Former limited-overs England captain Eoin Morgan has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.

Morgan oversaw a transformation of England's white-ball fortunes after taking the captaincy in 2014, guiding the team to World Cup success in the 50-over format at Lord's in 2019.

The left-handed batsman, who was succeeded as skipper by Jos Buttler upon his international retirement last June, also helped England to the T20 World Cup final in 2016 and the semi-finals of the same competition five years later.

In a statement released on social media on Monday, Morgan said: "It is with great pride that I am announcing my retirement from all forms of cricket. 

"After much deliberation, I believe that now is the right time to step away from the game that has given me so much over the years.

"As there are in every sportsperson's career, there have been highs and lows, but my family and friends have been by my side throughout it all. 

"Thanks to cricket, I have been able to travel the world and meet incredible people, many of whom I have developed lifelong friendships with.

"Since my retirement from international cricket, I have been able to spend more time with my loved ones, and I look forward to being able to do so more and more in the future. Having said that, I will undoubtedly miss the adventure and challenges of playing professional cricket."

Having switched allegiances to England after making his international debut with Ireland in 2006, Morgan scored 7,701 ODI runs – 6,957 for England – during his career, while his 225 ODIs and 115 T20Is represent England appearance records in the respective formats.

England's white-ball sides have continued to go from strength to strength since Morgan passed on the captaincy to Buttler, capturing the T20 World Cup with a five-wicket final win over Pakistan in Melbourne last November.

Player of the match Carlos Brathwaite took three wickets and effected a runout while Shimron Hetmyer scored a quick-fire unbeaten 25 to help lead Gulf Giants to a seven-wicket victory over Desert Vipers and the 2023 ILT20 final in Dubai on Sunday.

The heroic Barbadian, whose four consecutive sixes off Ben Stokes won the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup for the West Indies, took 3-19 and ran out opener Rohan Mustafa for just six to restrict Desert Vipers to 146-8 from their 20 overs.

He removed the dangerous Alex Hales for one, took the catch to dismiss Adam Lyth for 13, dismissed Sam Billings for 31, breaking the 72-run fifth wicket partnership with Wanindu Hasaranga, whose 55 from 27 balls propped up Desert Vipers, before returning to take the wicket of Tom Curran in the 19^th over.

Qias Ahmad supported Brathwaite with the wickets of Hasaranga and Luke Wood for three to finish with figures of 2-29. Chris Jordan caught and bowled the dangerous Colin Munro for just six.

Chasing 147 for victory, Gulf Giants’s Chris Lyn scored an unbeaten 72 from 50 balls and 30 from Gerhard Erasmus before Hetmyer arrived with the final dagger, smashing 25 not out from 13 balls with five fours to propel Gulf Giants to the title with eight balls to spare.

Kieron Pollard’s half-century was not sufficient to prevent the MI Emirates from going down to a four-wicket loss to Gulf Giants in Qualifier 2 in Sharjah on Friday.

With the win Gulf Giants booked a place in Sunday’s 2023 ILT20 final where they will face Desert Vipers.

Coming off their emphatic eight-wicket victory over Dubai Capitals on Thursday MI Emirates looked a jaded team, scoring 167-5 from their 20 overs.

Pollard scored an unbeaten 57 from 35 balls while Nicholas Pooran contributed with 29 and opener Mohammad Waseem, 31.

Chris Jordan took 2-25 and David Wiese 2-31.

In reply, James Vince played a gem of an innings, scoring unbeaten 83 including the winning runs, a four off Fazalhaq Farooqi as Gulf Giants scored 168-6 from 18.1 overs.

Farooqi took 2-27 and Rashid Khan, 2-40 in the losing cause. Dwayne Bravo took 1-27.

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.

Sherfane Rutherford’s heroics played a significant role in helping the Desert Vipers make their first-ever appearance in an ILT20 final on Wednesday.

After suffering a painful hamstring injury that forced him to leave the field, the Guyanese batsman returned to rescue his team smashing 37 off 19 deliveries including three consecutive sixes off David Wiese.

His heroics would help propel Desert Vipers to 178-7, which proved to be enough as the Vipers dismissed Gulf Giants for 159 in 19.4 overs.

During an interview on the Vipers Voices Podcast afterwards, Rutherford said he knew it was going to be his last game but he wanted to make an impact on the game and help his team.

“It was my idea (to go back out and bat). When I went in (after being injured), I asked my physio if I could go back and bat. He said no and that it was better I just relax,” he explained.

“I told him I could do it, and then he said he was going to discuss it with the coach. At that time Tom Moody was passing by and he said, ‘If he (Rutherford) wants to bat, let us trust him.’ I also knew it was going to be my last game (in the tournament) and I wanted to give it my all, and hopefully I could make an impact for the team.”

After arriving at the crease, he revealed his intentions to Tom Curran, his partner with whom he put on 52 runs which ultimately changed the direction of the match.

 “I knew I could not run, so I said (to Tom Curran) that I was going to try and get boundaries. So, I think that’s where we won the game,” Rutherford said.

Australia's T20 captain Aaron Finch has announced his retirement from all international cricket.

The 36-year-old called it quits in ODIs last September, but continued to captain Australia later in the year in the T20 format as they looked to defend their World Cup title on home soil.

However, Finch's side failed to reach the semi-finals despite the right-handed batsman top-scoring in a group-stage victory over Ireland, one that ultimately ended up being his last international match.

Finch has called it a day after a fantastic international career, during which he set the record for the highest score in a T20I with his 172-run innings against Zimbabwe in 2018.

He played for Australia 254 times across the three formats with 146 ODIs and 103 T20Is, as well as five Test matches.

Finch will continue playing for Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League after racking up 3,120 T20I runs, putting him sixth in the all-time rankings.

Finch told reporters at the MCG: "Realising that I won’t be playing on until the next T20 World Cup in 2024, now is the right moment to step down and give the team time to plan and build towards that event.

"I also want to say a huge thank you to all the fans who have supported me throughout my international career."

Finch captained his country in 76 T20Is and 55 ODIs, with his finest hour as Australia skipper coming in 2021 when he led them to the T20 World Cup, while he was also part of the team that won the 50-over Cricket World Cup in 2015.

Finch added: "Team success is what you play the game for and the maiden T20 World Cup win in 2021 and lifting the ODI World Cup on home soil in 2015 will be the two memories I cherish the most.

"To be able to represent Australia for 12 years and play with and against some of the greatest players of all time has been an incredible honour."

A devastating performance with bat and ball saw India seal a sensational series comeback with a record 168-run victory in their third and final T20I with New Zealand.

Shubman Gill's 126 not out powered the hosts to a freewheeling 234-4 in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, before they tore through their visitors at the crease for an emphatic win.

It is the biggest margin of victory India have ever recorded in the format, and marked something of an anticlimactic end to an otherwise close-fought series.

They are unlikely to care given the nature of their euphoric blowout, though the Black Caps will be concerned after failing to reach three figures in back-to-back games.

There were few signs at first glance Gill would turn in the sort of pyrotechnic performance that saw him star in the pair's ODI series last month.

After losing opening partner Ishan Kishan for just one, however, the opener carried the bat in a gangbuster turn, with a dozen fours and seven sixes off 63 balls.

Able support from Rahul Tripathi (44) and Hardik Pandya (30) helped him motor India to their fifth-best score in T20I history, and their highest against New Zealand. 

Hopes of mounting any serious pursuit felt slim for the Black Caps even before they crumpled, with Pandya (4-16) and Arshdeep Singh (2-16) combining for a brutal opening three overs to reduce them to 7-4.

Daryl Mitchell (35) stubbornly held his ground as a succession of partners came and went, helping to drag New Zealand from 21-5 to 53-6.

But further work from Shivam Mavi and Umran Malik curtailed any resistance as the tourists were bowled all out for 66.

Gill maintains 2023 hot streak

After matching the world record for the most runs in a three-game ODI series last month against New Zealand, the batter turned on the power again when it mattered.

A quiet few matches, with scores of just seven and 11, are faded memories now after his supremely assured performance this week.

Black Caps continue to stutter

After failing to hit the 100 mark last time out, a second successive game where they petered out in double figures is a major concern for New Zealand.

Their score of 66 is the third-lowest they have recorded in T20I history, behind the twin totals of 60 they posted against Sri Lanka in 2014 and Bangladesh in 2021.