Hayley Matthews scored an magnificent hundred in an all-round performance to lead Warriors Women to victory and the title over Falcons Women in the Fairbreak Invitational Tournament in Kowloon on Sunday.

The West Indies Women’s captain was adjudged Player of the Match for her 123 and 2-14 that spurred her team to a 94-run win. Batting first, Warriors Women scored 230-4 from their 20 overs. In reply, Falcons Women could only muster 137-8.

Matthews, who was last out, smashed 11 fours and nine sixes during her knock that lasted 52 balls.

After Matthews’ dismissal in the 15th over, Kathryn Bryce then lashed an unbeaten 52 and Captain Sindhu Sriharsha 25 in an unbroken stand of 75 that took Warriors Women to their imposing total. Price’s runs came from just 20 balls and included eight fours and two sixes.

Anju Gurung was the best of the Falcons Women bowlers taking 2-43 from her four overs.

Faced with a daunting task of scoring more than 11 runs an over, Falcons Women were steady in the chase but were always behind the required rate.

Chamari Athapaththu (29), Danni Hyatt (20), Captain Suzie Bates (25) and Theertha Satish (29), all got starts but were unable to carry on. No other batter got into double figures as Matthews and Bryce (3-16) did the damage to keep their side ahead of the game and eventually to a comprehensive victory.

Warriors Women lost only once during the tournament.

 

Shahrukh Khan blasted Punjab Kings to a two-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants after a maiden Indian Premier League half-century for Sikandar Raza on Saturday.

KL Rahul (74 from 56 balls) struck his first fifty of the season and become the fastest player to 4,000 IPL runs as the Super Giants posted 159-8 at the Ekana Cricket Stadium. 

Raza (57 off 41) put the Kings on their way to victory, but a tense game was in the balance before Shahrukh (23 not out off 10) finished off the job with three balls to spare to make it three wins from five for his side and consign Lucknow to only a second loss.

Harpreet Brar removed Kyle Mayers (29) to end an opening stand of 53 with Rahul after Sam Curran, taking over as captain with Shikhar Dhawan out due to a shoulder injury, won the toss and opted to field.

The Super Giants were reduced to 111-4 in a 15th over from Kagiso Rabada in which Krunal Pandya and Nicholas Pooran departed, but Rahul ticked along on a surface that was by no means the easiest to bat on. 

Rahul was finally removed by Arshdeep Singh in the penultimate over before Curran (3-31) struck twice in the last to keep Lucknow below 160.

Debutant Yudhvir Singh (2-19) struck an early blow in the run chase by getting Atharva Taide caught by Avesh Khan at third man in his first Kings over and also cleaned up Prabhsimran Singh.

Matthew Short (34) and Harpreet Singh (22) got starts but failed to go on and Curran fell cheaply trying to launch Ravi Bishnoi over the rope, but Raza was able to hang around and keep his side on course to reach their target.

Lucknow were scenting the win when Raza fell to Bishnoi and Mark Wood struck twice to set up a tense finish, but Shahrukh hit his first ball for six and won it with a four off Bishnoi in the final over


Rahul breaks another record

Lucknow skipper Rahul came to the party by anchoring the innings, reaching the 4,000 IPL runs landmark in record time.

The opener got there in his 105 innings, pushing Chris Gayle (112 knocks) down to second on the list of the quickest batters to hit that tally.

He got to his half-century in 40 balls, hitting a six and eight fours before falling to Arshdeep.

Raza rises to the occasion

Zimbabwe all-rounder Raza turns 37 this month and he showed all of his experience to show why he was given a first IPL chance by the Kings.

He hit three sixes and another four boundaries to reach his 50 from 34 balls and looked like being there at the end until Bishnoi ended his excellent knock.

Delhi Capitals suffered their fifth successive Indian Premier League defeat as their batting order was decimated by Royal Challengers Bangalore, who took a 23-run win at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Bottom-of-the-table Delhi looked to be in contention for their first win of the season when they limited RCB to 174-6, but they lost four wickets within the first six overs of a dire run chase, Manish Pandey's half-century only serving to salvage some pride.

Virat Kohli's 50 off 34 deliveries put RCB in a decent position after they were put in by Delhi skipper David Warner, but their momentum was stunted when he was caught in the deep off Lalit Yadav's bowling in the 11th over.

Faf du Plessis (22) and Mahipal Lomror (26) supported Kohli ably before both were caught off the bowling of Mitchell Marsh, whose figures of 2-18 helped Delhi keep RCB within range.

Delhi, however, made a dismal start to their run chase, losing three wickets before the end of the third over and two more by the close of the ninth.

A superb piece of fielding from Anuj Rawat accounted for the first as Prithvi Shaw was run out, before Marsh handed Kohli a routine catch to join his team-mate in being dismissed for nought.

Having watched the wickets tumble around him, Warner (19) gave Vyshak Vijaykumar a maiden IPL wicket when he was caught by Kohli at midwicket, and Vyshak went on to scalp two more on a fine debut.

Pandey restored some respectability with 50 off 38 balls, but any hopes of a Delhi fightback were extinguished when he was bowled lbw by Wanindu Hasaranga in the 14th, allowing RCB to cruise to their second win of the season.

Kohli knock decisive

Kohli took 33 balls to deliver the 47th half-century of his IPL career, and while the RCB opener was dismissed with the next delivery, his excellent knock ultimately proved decisive.

He slammed six fours and one six to guide his side to a respectable tally, one his team-mates struggled to build on after his exit. 

Fortunately for RCB, their attack was in scintillating form as Delhi never looked likely to complete the chase.

Debutant Vyshak on song 

Vyshak's IPL debut was one to remember as he had Warner caught for his maiden wicket before adding the scalps of Axar Patel and Yadav.

He took 3-20 across four overs while Mohammed Siraj added 2-23 on a day for the bowlers in Bangalore.

Harry Brook scored a magnificent maiden Indian Premier League century to set up a 23-run win for Sunrisers Hyderabad over Kolkata Knight Riders.

The England batter failed in his first three IPL knocks, but he struck a sublime unbeaten 100 from 55 balls to get Sunrisers up to an imposing total of 228-4 at Eden Gardens on Friday.

Brook hit three sixes and 12 fours to register the first IPL hundred of the season, while captain Aiden Markram blasted 50 from 26 deliveries and Abhishek Sharma made a brisk 32 after KKR skipper Nitish Rana put Sunrisers in.

Rapid half-centuries from Rana (75 from 41) and Rinku Singh (58 off 31) gave the Knight Riders hope, but they fell short on 205-7 as Hyderabad secured a second successive win following back-to-back defeats.

Andre Russell (3-22) dismissed Mayank Agarwal and Rahul Tripathi in his first over before the all-rounder left the field with an injury, with Brook and Markram then putting on 72 to silence a huge crowd.

Brook was dropped by Suyash Sharma on 45 and that proved to be costly, while Markram cleared the rope five times before he was caught off the bowling of Varun Chakravarthy in the deep.

The classy Brook stepped on the accelerator to reach three figures and Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Rahmanullah Gurbaz at the start of the run chase.

Marco Jansen (2-37) reduced KKR to 20-3 and they were 96-5 when Russell departed, but Rana and Rinku made a game of it with a stand of 69.

Their fireworks were in vain, though, Mayank Markande taking 2-27 and Kumar keeping it tight with 1-29 as KKR suffered a second loss.

Brook pays off part of his price tag

Sunrisers forked out 13.25 crore (£1.325million) to land the sought-after Brook in the auction and he demonstrated exactly why in his fourth IPL match.

Having made only 29 combined in his previous three innings, the 24-year-old carried his bat after reaching 50 off 32 balls and racing to a century from 55.

Brook took 23 off an over from Lockie Ferguson, the runs flowing on both sides of the wicket in a brilliant exhibition of batting.  

Rana in the runs again

Rana registered his 16th IPL half-century in a run-fest, cashing in on a great pitch.

This was his fourth score of 50 or more against Sunrisers, but it was not enough to pull off what would have been a record IPL run chase.

Captain Stafanie Taylor’s Tornadoes Women have finished fifth in the FairBreak T20 Invitational after a 55-run win over Sapphires Women in the fifth-place playoff at the Kowloon Cricket Club in Hong Kong on Friday.

The West Indies all rounder top-scored with 24 to help the Tornadoes post 115-5 off their 20 overs. Sterre Kallis (19) and Aliya Riaz (19*) also had meaningful contributions. Pacer Shabnim Ismail took 2-8 off four overs for the Sapphires.

Winifred Duraisingam (3-8 off 2.2 overs), Sita Rana Magar (3-17 off four overs) and Chanida Sutthiruang (3-22 off four overs) then combined to restrict the Sapphires to a modest 60 all out in just 14.2 overs.

Shubman Gill's composed 67 helped Gujarat Titans to a six-wicket victory over Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League on Thursday, but not before some late jitters.

The Titans looked to be strolling to a win before Gill fell in the final over, with Gujarat needing all but one ball of their 20 overs to reach the target of 154.

Punjab's innings got off to a poor start when Prabhsimran Singh was out for a second-ball duck after inadvertently lobbing Mohammed Shami to Rashid Khan, before captain Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed by Josh Little for just eight.

Matt Short was going well on 36 from 24 balls before a superb delivery from Rashid bowled the Australian.

Jitesh Sharma helped steady things with 25 from 23 before edging Mohit Sharma to Wriddhiman Saha, but Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Sam Curran played some risk-free cricket to make sure the Kings had some wickets in hand for the closing overs.

Rajapaksa fell for 20 with three overs left, with Curran following soon after for 22, though a quickfire 22 from Shahrukh Khan helped them to a final total of 153-8.

Saha and Gill put on an opening partnership of 48 inside the first five overs before the former picked out Short at deep square leg off the bowling of Kagiso Rabada for 30.

Sai Sudharsan added 19 before being dismissed by Arshdeep Singh, while Hardik Pandya matched his fellow captain by also only managing eight runs before departing.

Gill was dramatically bowled by Curran in the final over as the Titans were left needing six from the final four balls, and then four from two, but Rahul Tewatia swept a four with the penultimate delivery to seal the win for Gujarat.

Gill dethrones Kings again

It was a superb effort from Gill, who hit four fours and one six as his 67 from 49 balls took the Titans to victory.

This was his fifth 50 against the Kings, his highest tally against any single opponent in the IPL, while no player has logged more scores of 50+ runs against Punjab than Gill since his IPL debut in 2018.

Dhawan cannot find the power

Shikhar Dhawan was unable to produce a much-needed captain's innings for the Kings, trying to loft Little's delivery over mid-on, but only finding the safe hands of Alzarri Joseph.

He has been dismissed 85 times during powerplay overs in the IPL, the most of any player and at least 15 more times than any other in the competition's history (Parthiv Patel second on 70).

Led by a brilliant half-century from Christian Lall, Trinidad and Tobago were crowned champions of the West Indies Rising Stars Under 15 Championship, as they defeated the Leeward Islands by six wickets at the Coolidge Cricket Ground on Wednesday.

The Leewards batting first posted 162 all out in 48 overs, with a half-century for skipper Matthew Miller. He shared in a 63-run partnership with Jaheem Clarke as the pair showed resistance to the spin of Yasir Deen and Alejandro Kassiram. Deen and Kassiram finished with figures of 3/34 and 3/9 respectively.

Lall and Dimitri Ramjattan then posted a 77-run opening partnership before Ramjattan was caught for 19. Trinidad and Tobago lost three more wickets in pursuit of victory, but Yasir Deen nudged the ball for the winning single in the last ball of the 35th over.

In the end, the champions reached 163-4 with Lall making 52 and Zane Maraj 28*. Kunal Tilokani finished with figures of 2/45.

The Windward Islands took home a four-wicket win over Jamaica at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium to close of their championship on a winning note. Batting first, Jamaica posted 146 all out in 42.3 overs, thanks to a top score of 39 from Demarco Scott and 36 from Odane Binns. Theo Edward was the pick of the Windward bowlers with figures of 4/27.

Edward then starred with the bat as well with 59 as the Windwards reached 149-6 off 35.5 overs. Nicoli McKenzie, Geovanni Gray and Joel Williams all ended with two wickets for Jamaica.

In the third match, Guyana beat last year’s winners Barbados by seven wickets at Liberta Sports Ground. Batting first, Barbados was all out for 69 in 20.5 overs. Oliver Gooding top-scored for the Bajans with 23. Arun Gainda 3/10, skipper Dave Mohabir 3/13 and Jonathan Mentore 3/14 were the leading bowlers for Guyana.

Mentore then returned to score 17 runs and 14 from Romario Ramdeholl, but it was the 25 runs that came via extras that took Guyana home to a comfortable win at 70-3 in 23 overs. Akobi Crichlow-Byer was the best Barbados bowler with figures of 2/18.

Earsinho Fontaine of the Windward Islands finished as the leading run-scorer with 197 runs while T&T’s Yasir Deen ended with 14 wickets to lead the tournament. In the field, T&T teammates Christiano Ramanan (9) and Scyon Charles (6) led the tournament in dismissals and catches, respectively.

Sacked West Indies Women’s Coach Courtney Walsh said he was shocked and disappointed by his dismissal by Cricket West Indies as he feels the players were showing signs of improvement.

CWI announced early this week that the contracts of Walsh, Robert Samuels and Corey Collymore were not renewed and that they were looking at recruiting new coaches for the West Indies Women, who have struggled for form for the past three years.

Walsh took over from Gus Logie in October 2020. Under his charge the West Indies Women won seven out of 24 T20Is and 11 of 32 ODIs. The team lost 15 consecutive T20 matches and made it to the semi-final of the ICC Women 50-over World Cup in 2022.

However, during T20 World Cup in South Africa, West Indies failed to qualify for the knockout round after winning two matches - against Pakistan and Ireland - in the group stage.

Notwithstanding, Walsh while a guest on Mason & Guest radio show in Barbados on Tuesday, Walsh said he was surprised when he was told that his contract was not going to be renewed.

"I was surprised at the time when I was told, but it was a job, and I was employed until the end of last month when I was told the contract won't be renewed," Walsh said.

"The timing was very surprising. I would have much preferred to have known earlier, but that's not my call. I got a message to call him [CWI director of cricket Jimmy Adams] and I called him, and he told me the contract won't be renewed."

Walsh also revealed that he was disheartened by the news that the Samuels and Collymore had also suffered a similar fate as he believes the players were showing signs of progress.

"I was also disappointed to find out that the other coaches were not going to be reinstated, as well. I thought we were making some strides with the girls and the pool of players we had at the time,” Walsh said.

“We suffered injuries to players at some crucial times, but we still fought through it, and I felt the coaches worked really hard in trying to get the best team we could on the park in tough times.”

Ravichandran Ashwin has aired his irritation with umpire calls in the Indian Premier League after Rajasthan Royals' three-run win over Chennai Super Kings.

Jos Buttler's unbeaten half-century in the first innings was enough to help the Royals hold off a dramatic late CSK rally led by MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja.

But the decision was made by umpires Virender Sharma and Vinod Seshan to change the ball in the 12th over of the hosts' losing chase.

Though the officials are within the laws of the game to do so, Ashwin acknowledged he was frustrated by the move after the Royals did not ask for it to be swapped.

"I'm quite surprised the umpires changed the ball for dew on their own," he said. "It's never happened before and I'm quite surprised.

"Some of the decisions in this year's IPL on the field have left me a little flummoxed, to be honest. It left me flummoxed in a good or bad way because what you need is a little bit of balance.

"We're going as a bowling team and we're not asking for the ball to be changed. But the ball was changed on the umpire's accord. I did ask the umpire, but he said we can change it.

"So I hope every time there's dew they can change it every single time going forward in this IPL. You can do whatever you want, but you need to be standard."

Ashwin is not the first player to criticise the decision-making process by umpires, with Punjab Kings' Sam Curran voicing his displeasure over ball changes.

The Royals are currently top of the IPL standings, having picked up three wins from their first four games this season.

A third Jos Buttler half-century of the Indian Premier League season saw Rajasthan Royals edge a dramatic three-run victory over Chennai Super Kings.

The England white-ball skipper rattled off another superb knock of 52 to continue his rich vein of form during Wednesday's clash at M. A. Chidambaram Stadium.

But his side's tally of 175-8 was almost knocked off by a pyrotechnic finale from MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja, who crashed 36 runs off the final two overs.

Despite the early loss of fellow opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (10), it was Buttler's sturdy second-wicket partnership with Devdutt Padikkal (38) that kept Rajasthan ticking over.

Even when their 77-run stand came to an end, subsequent turns from Ravichandran Ashwin (30) and Shimron Hetmyer (30 not out) continued to punish a loose bowling attack.

Jadeja's tidy 2-21 off four overs came too late to restrict the damage, and CSK were forced straight onto the offensive themselves when they came to the crease in pursuit.

For a while, it looked like they would prove handily successful in their chase, before the loss of Devon Conway (50) and Ajinkya Rahane (31) saw them tumble to 113-6.

But then, with their side in need, the veteran duo of Dhoni (32 not out) and Jadeja (25 not out) almost dragged them over the line, finishing just shy with 172-6 after Sandeep Sharma held his nerve in the final over.

Buttler continues IPL brilliance

Having led England to T20 World Cup glory last year, there was little doubt the wicketkeeper-batter's form would again be a big-time player for the Royals, and so it has been proven.

After 54 against the Sunrisers and 79 against the Capitals, he has once again shown himself invaluable to the Royals and their hopes of success this season.

Dhoni rolls back the years

Having needed 40 runs off the final dozen balls, it appeared a stretch too far even for the 41-year-old and his superb skills.

But he hasn't hung up his pads yet for a reason, and his devastating knock, with three maximums and an additional four, helped set up the grandstand finish.

Ben Stokes has promised to continue England's aggressive and attacking style and eased concerns over his own fitness ahead of the Ashes this summer. 

Stokes, who succeeded Joe Root to become England's Test captain last year, has implemented an aggressive approach and has led the side to 10 wins out of 12 since taking charge.

England have not won an Ashes series against Australia since 2015, but their skipper has promised not to deviate from this new style when they face the top-ranked Test side. 

"I'm not going to change anything just because it's the Ashes," Stokes told Sky Sports.

"I'm not going to change for anything or any situation, because then I'm not being true to myself and what I've done over the last year. 

"Every player knows the Ashes is where everything ramps up a bit – pressure, exposure, all kinds of stuff – but we'll just keep sticking to what we do.

"If you plan for negativity, it is inevitable it is going to happen." 

English pitches have notoriously been prepared to suit their swing bowlers, but the England captain revealed he has now requested flatter pitches to help benefit their swashbuckling batting approach and abundance of fast-bowling talent. 

"We want fast, flat wickets. We want to go out there and score quickly," he said. "I'm smiling because I'm looking forward to it. 

"I think having the option to have someone who can bowl above 90 miles per hour is what any captain wants.

"Hold me to it. Every game I play this summer will be to produce a result."

Stokes is close to knowing his XI for the first Test and has been boosted by his own fitness after concerns about his knee after England's Test series in New Zealand.

The all-rounder bowled himself sparingly in that series and has not played for Chennai Super Kings in their last two IPL games but said he is now bowling "pain-free" for the first time in over a year. 

"I've worked so hard over the last month, five weeks, to get where I am now," he said.

"That's down to a lot of hard work I've done – medically, in the gym, and I obviously had a bit of help with some cortisone injections.

"The main priority for me is making sure that I can fulfil my role as fourth seamer in the Ashes.

"I've had some good conversations with the people who are employed to look after us, body-wise. I said I'll be doing everything I can whilst I'm in India to make sure that when we get to the Ashes, I'll give myself the best opportunity to do my role."

Former India captain and coach Ravi Shastri has called the rate of injuries suffered by their fast bowlers "ridiculous".

India have suffered with maintaining the health of their pace options over the past few years, with players struggling to complete full tours.

Deepak Chahar is the latest India seamer to be sidelined, after suffering a left hamstring injury during the Indian Premier League game between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians.

Players are rehabilitated at the BCCI's National Cricket Academy, but Shastri has now questioned just how effective the team's recovery methods are, given their high turnover of problems.

"Let's put it this way: there are quite a few in the last three or four years who are permanent residents of the NCA," Shastri told ESPN's T20 Time:Out.

"Soon, they'll get a resident permit there to walk in any time they want, which is not a good thing at all. It's unreal.

"You're not playing that much cricket to be injured again and again. If you are going to come back, make sure you get fit and come once and for all because it's frustrating not just for the team, the players, the BCCI, the captains of the various franchises.

"I can understand a serious injury, but every four games when someone touches his hamstring or someone touches his groin, you start thinking what are these guys training. Some of them don't play any other cricket. It's ridiculous.

Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Sen, Mohsin Khan and Yash Dayal are among the other pace options India have seen injured to varying degrees in recent months.

Bumrah, in particular, attempted an unsuccessful comeback before conceding the need for surgery in March.

West Indies wicketkeeper/batsman Joshua Da Silva and Alick Athanaze, the top scorer in the recently concluded West Indies Championship, have been appointed captains for Team Headley and Team Weekes, respectively for the upcoming Headley Weeks Tri-Series.

The two teams have been drawn from the leading performers in the 2023 West Indies Championship and those deemed to be on the fringe of the Test team.

The series aims to provide further first-class opportunities to the best performers from the West Indies Championship in a competitive and intense setting, as well as opportunities for players who the selectors believe would benefit from playing red-ball cricket as West Indies prepare for the upcoming “A” Team tour of Bangladesh and the two-Test Series against India at home.

Team Headley and Team Weekes will play against each other and against the West Indies Academy in the three-match series running from 19 April to 6 May, at the Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG) in Antigua. All three matches have been awarded first-class status. The West Indies Academy was unveiled last year and played CG United Super50 tournament last November.

Team Weekes will feature Athanaze who was the leading batter in the West Indies Championship with 647 runs, which included two centuries; left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul the second-highest wicket-taker with 28 wickets; as well as Jahmar Hamilton who was the joint leading keeper with 19 dismissals.

Team Headley will feature experienced left-hander Darren Bravo, who was the second highest run-scorer in the West Indies Championship with 446 runs which included two centuries; fast bowler Akeem Jordan who was third highest wicket-taker with 22 wickets in four matches; as well as Tevyn Walcott, who was the joint leading keeper with 19 dismissals.

“Following the conclusion of the West Indies Championship, we are pleased to have more first-class matches on the calendar,” said CWI Lead Selector Desmond Haynes.

“This is a great initiative and will provide our players with more opportunities as we look ahead to the very important Test Series against India later in the year as well as ‘A’ Team matches. We looked at everyone who was available, and we came up with teams who will be very competitive and push each other.”

All matches in the Headley Weekes Tri-Series will be streamed LIVE on the Windies Cricket YouTube channel with live scorecards and ball-by-ball scoring on the Windiescricket.com live match centre.

Team Headley: Joshua Da Silva (captain), Sunil Ambris, Darren Bravo, Justin Greaves, Kavem Hodge, Chaim Holder, Akeem Jordan, Marquino Mindley, Shayne Moseley, Gudakesh Motie, Anderson Phillip, Kieran Powell and Tevyn Walcott.

Team Weekes:  Alick Athanaze (captain), Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Keacy Carty, Dominic Drakes, Jahmar Hamilton, Brandon King, Jair McAllister, Zachary McCaskie, Veerasammy Permaul, Raymon Reifer, Kevin Sinclair, Nial Smith and Devon Thomas.

West Indies Academy: Kevlon Anderson, Ackeem Auguste, Joshua Bishop, Teddy Bishop, McKenny Clarke, Rivaldo Clarke, Joshua James, Johann Layne, Kirk McKenzie, Ashmead Nedd, Kelvin Pitman, Keagan Simmons, Ramon Simmonds, Kevin Wickham and Nyeem Young.

According to Cricket West Indies Shai Hope was selected but was given permission to represent Yorkshire in the English County Championship while Rahkeem Cornwall and Shane Dowrich made themselves unavailable for selection.

MATCH SCHEDULE

All matches to be played at CCG, Antigua

Match 1: 19-22 April: Team Headley v West Indies Academy

Match 2: 26-29 April: Team Weekes v West Indies Academy

Match 3: 3-6 May: Team Weekes v Team Headley

Cricket West Indies (CWI) will shortly be starting the process to recruit a new West Indies Women’s team Head Coach after taking the decision not to renew the contract of Women’s Head Coach Courtney Walsh and Technical Assistant Coaches Robert Samuels and Corey Collymore. This follows a review of the senior Women’s team performances and programme.

During Walsh's tenure, which started in October 2020, he oversaw Home and Away Series wins to Pakistan and secured a semi-final spot in the 2022 ICC Women's 50-over Cricket World Cup. 

CWI Director of Cricket Jimmy Adams said “We are very grateful for the contribution of Courtney and his technical team over the past two and a half years and we wish them all the best going forward. CWI remains committed to our international women's programme and will now be focusing on recruiting a new Head Coach and technical support team. ​ An interim technical support team will be put in place during the recruitment period.”

Further information on the recruitment process will be provided in the coming weeks with the coaching roles being critical for the development of women’s cricket in the West Indies. In recent years, CWI has significantly increased investment into the women’s game at every level focusing on deepening the talent pool within the Caribbean and producing the next generation of West Indies Women’s players.

Mumbai Indians claimed their first win of the Indian Premier League season as Tim David got them over the line in a nerve-wracking final ball victory over Delhi Capitals.

Having suffered defeat in each of their opening two matches, Mumbai were set 173 to win after they bowled out the Capitals with two balls to spare.

Robbing Delhi of those final two deliveries proved pivotal as Mumbai edged to a six-wicket win, David hitting the winning runs despite some excellent death bowling from Anrich Nortje.

Half-centuries from captain David Warner (51) and Axar Patel (54) had helped Delhi to 172, Warner and Patel combining for a key stand of 67.

But an incredible 19th over in which Jason Behrendorff removed both and, after Kuldeep Yadav was run out, Abishek Porel, prevented Delhi from posting a more imposing total, their innings ended slightly prematurely when Nortje was dismissed.

Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma (65) led what for long periods looked to be a serene chase as they reached 139-1, only for a flurry of wickets to fray the nerves.

Tilak Varma (41) and Suryakumar Yadav (0) went in successive deliveries and Rohit fell to a stunning catch from Porel off a wide yorker from Mustafizur Rahman five balls later.

David (13 not out) and Cameron Green (17 not out) initially struggled to get going but both hit sixes in the penultimate over to leave Mumbai needing five off the last.

Nortje almost miraculously rescued the situation for Delhi by continually nailing his yorker. However, needing two off from the final ball, David punched to long-off and clinched victory with a desperate dive to the crease as Warner's throw to the striker's end proved too high.

Rohit confounds Capitals again

With his half-century in this one, Rohit scored his sixth fifty-plus score against Delhi in the IPL. Only Virat Kohli (8) and Ajinkya Rahane (7) have registered more such scores against the Capitals.

Dreadful start for Delhi

While Mumbai got off the mark, Delhi have now lost each of their first four matches to start the campaign. Only in 2013 (six games) have they endured a longer losing run to begin a season.

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