Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill inspired India to a 10-wicket thrashing of Zimbabwe to confirm their T20I series win over the Chevrons. 

An unbeaten opening partnership between Jaiswal (93 not out) and new captain Gill (58 not out) in Harare secured the triumph for the reigning T20 world champions with one match of the series remaining. 

Having started impressively, Zimbabwe lost both Tadiwanashe Marumani (25) and Wessly Madhevere (32) in quick succession, which ultimately kickstarted their collapse.

Sikandar Raza attempted to steady the ship with a crisp 46 from 28 balls, but the wickets continued to tumble as Shivam Dube (1-11) and Khaleel Ahmed (2-32) helped restrict Zimbabwe to a manageable 152 -7. 

India wasted no time in chasing down their target, with Jaiswal and Gill reaching 61 by the end of the powerplay.

Jaiswal completed his half-century from 29 deliveries with the help of nine fours, with Gill then sealing his second consecutive 50 against Zimbabwe. 

The win was secured in the second ball of the 15th over, putting India 3-1 up in the series.

Data Debrief: India's dominance over Zimbabwe continues

India clinched the series with a third win after losing the first game, making it the third time in four bilateral men's T20I series against Zimbabwe that they have won (D1).

They have now won six of their last seven men's T20Is against Zimbabwe (L1).

Raza's knock for Zimbabwe saw him make history, becoming the first player from the nation to score 2,000 runs in T20Is. 

Mark Wood has been added to England's squad for the second Test against the West Indies, replacing James Anderson after his retirement.

England's all-time leading wicket-taker Anderson signed off from his glittering red-ball career on Friday, taking a wicket on the final day at Lord's in his farewell Test.

Ben Stokes' side hammered the touring Windies by an innings and 114 runs, and England have made just one expected change to their playing squad.

Anderson's retirement has paved the way for Durham quick Wood to return, having missed the first Test after featuring in the T20 World Cup with Jos Buttler's white-ball team.

Stokes will likely stick with Chris Woakes and Gus Atkinson, the latter who impressed significantly in his first international with remarkable match figures of 12-106, leaving one fast-bowling slot available.

Wood will battle it out with the uncapped Dillon Pennington and Durham team-mate Matthew Potts for a place in the second Test, which begins on Thursday at Trent Bridge.

Should Pennington feature and make his debut, the Nottinghamshire bowler would do so on his home ground.

England men's squad for second Test v West Indies: 
Ben Stokes (Durham), Gus Atkinson (Surrey), Shoaib Bashir (Somerset), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Zak Crawley (Kent), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Dan Lawrence (Surrey), Dillon Pennington (Nottinghamshire), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Matthew Potts (Durham), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jamie Smith (Surrey), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).

James Anderson says he never felt "great" during his career following his retirement from international cricket.

The fast bowler played his final Test match for England against the West Indies with an innings win on the third day, taking four wickets to see him finish with a total of 704 for his career.

Anderson is England's all-time leading wicket-taker, with only Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne ahead of him in the all-time list of Test bowlers.

Over a 21-year career, he won 188 Test caps for England, the most of any player, but despite his many records, he does not believe he reached the level of the "greats".

"You go so up and down," he told Sky Sports. "Some series you feel amazing and some not quite on it and a batter gets the better of you.

"Playing against Virat Kohli in the early days, you felt you could get him out every ball and then recently like you can't get him out at all. You feel so inferior.

"I have never felt great at any stage. I know that sounds strange. I have always thought 'How can I get better for the next series?'. That has helped me play for such a long time."

Anderson was given a guard of honour by both teams at Lord's on Friday before going out onto the balcony following the match to more celebratory scenes from the spectators.

Asked about the legacy he wanted to leave behind, the 41-year-old admitted he would be pleased to find out he had inspired others to take up the sport.

"The way I have loved the sport so much, I would love for there to be people out there that have taken up the game because they have watched me bowl," said Anderson.

"That people have been entertained by watching me bowl and there are kids or grown-ups who have taken up the art of swing bowling because they have seen me bowl. That would make me so happy."

Anderson will immediately move onto England's backroom staff, becoming a bowling mentor for the second Test at Trent Bridge next week.

Rain was the dominant force in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Friday as play was not possible in two of the three matches in the CWI Rising Stars Under-19 Men’s 2-Day Championship.

Play on day two between the Leeward Islands and Guyana at the Park Hill Playing Field and Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago at the Sion Hill Playing Field was not possible.

Guyana were leading the Leewards by 27 runs entering day two.

Full Scores:

Guyana U-19s 111 all out off 34.2 overs (Jonathan van Lange 28, Rampertab Ramnauth 22, Nathan Edward 5-21, Micah McKenzie 2-18, Matthew Miller 2-23)

Leeward Islands U-19s 84-2 off 20 overs (Michael Palmer 24, Devanand Singh 22*, Jewel Andrew 16*)

The Trinidadians were trailing Barbados by 149 runs entering day two.

Barbados U-19s 200-9 declared off 67 overs (Jatario Prescod 55, Joshua Morris 43, Raneico Smith 21, Nathan Sealy 20, Jacen Agard 4-50, Aneal Rooplal 2-36)

Trinidad & Tobago U-19s 51-3 off 17 overs (Justin Jagessar 22, Kyle Ramdoo 15)

The only match that saw some cricket on day two was the match between the Windward Islands and defending double champions Jamaica at Arnos Vale.

The Windwards reached 44-0 in the ninth over after starting the day 27-0 off five overs.

Theo Edward and Captain Stephan Pascal finished 22* and 20*, respectively.

Full Scores:

Windward Islands U-19s 135 all out off 45.2 overs (Stephan Pascal 26, Lee John 23, Kirtney Franklyn 22, Kirt Murray 21, Tamarie Redwood 6-44, Michael Clarke 4-26) & 44-0 off 8.2 overs (Theo Edward 22*, Stephan Pascal 20*)

Jamaica U-19s 146-8 declared off 34.1 overs (Adrian Weir 38, Brian Barnes 30, Steve Wedderburn 28, Michael Clarke 24, Kirt Murray 4-22, Aaron Joseph 2-24)

The teams will now turn their attention to the next round which begins on Sunday, July 14.

The Leeward Islands will take on Barbados at Arnos Vale with Jamaica facing Trinidad & Tobago at Park Hill and the Windward Islands facing Guyana at Sion Hill.

Guyana and the Leeward Islands will contest the CWI Rising Stars Under-19 Women’s T20 Championship at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy on Saturday after the conclusion of the tournament’s fifth round on Thursday.

At the same venue on Thursday, the Leewards secured a seven-run win over Jamaica via the DLS method.

The Leewards first posted 124-6 from their 20 overs after being put in to bat by the Jamaicans. Captain Jahzara Claxton led the way with 29 while Sainvani Kambalapalli made 22 and Kimberley Anthony made 20.

Brianna Plummer, Abigail Bryce and Aneisha Miller each took two wickets for Jamaica.  

At the time of the rain delay, Jamaica were 55-3 off 10.4 overs, seven runs short of the DLS par score.

At the Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground, Guyana, who booked their spot in the final thanks to wins in the first four rounds, suffered a narrow two-wicket loss to the Windward Islands in round five.

The Guyanese were bundled out for just 60 in 18 overs after winning the toss. Nesha Alexander was the pick of the Windwards bowlers with 4-8 from her four overs while Selena Ross took 3-8 off three overs in support.

The Windwards then hade a tough time of it in their chase, needing 18.3 overs to reach 61-8.

Denella Creese led the way with 25 as Trisha Hardat and Nyia Latchman tried their best with the ball for Guyana.

Hardat took 2-2 from two overs while Latchman took 2-6 from her four overs.

The other round five fixture saw Barbados defeat Trinidad & Tobago by 12 runs via the DLS method at the Diego Martin Sports Complex.

Barbados made 100-5 from their 20 overs after being put in to bat. Asabi Callender led the way with 40 while Naijanni Cumberbatch made 30* against 2-9 off four overs from Kenika Cassar and 2-13 off three overs from Brianna Harricharan.

Trinidad & Tobago’s target was then revised to 95 off 18 overs due to rain.

They lost wickets early and never recovered, eventually being restricted to 82-9 off 18 overs.

Erin Deane starred with 4-12 from her four overs while Cumberbatch and Nia Wood took 2-14, each.

Also on Saturday, Trinidad and Tobago will face the Windward Islands in the third-place playoff at the Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground while Jamaica will face Barbados in the fifth-place playoff at the Diego Martin Sports Complex.

While having no issues with investing more money in West Indies Test cricket, iconic batsman Brian Lara believes the region’s problems goes much deeper when it comes to the game’s longest format.

In fact, Lara who has never been shy about expressing his views, pointed out that the onus is on Cricket West Indies (CWI) to take the necessary steps to resolve the slippage, as the Caribbean side –ranked eighth in the ICC Test rankings –suffered a crushing innings and 114-run defeat to England inside three days in the first of their three-match series, at Lord’s.  

“If you put 100 million, 200 million dollars into the West Indies’ bank account, is it going to change the way we play the game? I’m not sure. We are not harnessing the talent that we have,” Lara told BBC World Service’s Stumped podcast.

Though the likes of Nicholas Pooran and Shai Hope possess enough ability to play crucial roles in Test, both have opted to play just white-ball cricket internationally, which enables them to play in franchise leagues across the world.

That along with the fact that other sports, such as athletics, are vying for the sponsorship dollars across the Caribbean, Lara believes has pushed cricket on the outside.

“Obviously, cricket has been diluted by the number of different sports and different opportunities for kids, but I still believe that corporate West Indies have got to get involved,” Lara said.

“The West Indies Cricket Board hasn’t done the right job in attracting these sponsors to ensure that at least grassroots, but also the academy, all the different things, the facilities, are up to standard. I think these things are very, very important,” he added.

On that note, Lara also stressed the need for more to be done to revive public interest in the longer format.

“We don’t have anybody coming through the gate. I walked in Lord’s about 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday and outside there were people waiting. That was something I was accustomed to as a kid, getting to the Queens Park Oval at 5:30 and waiting for the gate to be open.

“That’s not happening. You get there at 11 o’clock and there is an empty stadium. You could pick a seat wherever you want. We have to try to get the crowd back,” Lara shared.

“That will breathe the life back into the people of the Caribbean and let them understand what Test cricket is all about and you can get the world of money. You still need to sort of get the crowd more passionate about it and we haven’t been able to do that,” he noted.

West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite has described his team’s performance in the first Test against England at Lord’s as “disappointing” but expects them to bounce back similarly to how they did against Australia in January.

England completed an innings and 114-run victory over the West Indies inside three days on Friday.

“It’s quite disappointing but it’s gone. We have two Test matches left in this series and we have to look ahead and stay mentally tough. That’s important for us,” Brathwaite said in Friday’s post-match press conference.

During their tour of Australia in January, the West Indies were similarly dominated by 10 wickets in the first Test in Adelaide before bouncing back with a historic eight-run win over their much stronger opponents in the second Test in Brisbane.

“Yeah for sure,” was Brathwaite’s response when asked if he believes this group can replicate that performance in response to a big loss.

“Every individual I believe in 100%. I know they can get the job done at this level so I believe in them for sure,” he added.

The 31-year-old also saw a few positives from the team’s performance in the first Test against England, mainly in the bowling department.

“Positives? We did bowl them out, albeit 50-60 runs too many. With the bat, we got three guys that got to 20-add and batted for an hour. We caught decently as well,” he said.

Brathwaite also said it’s too early to determine whether or not changes will be made to the XI for the second Test at Trent Bridge starting on July 18.

“It’s a little too early to decide. Obviously, it’s a different pitch we’ll be playing on so when we get there we’ll know,” he said.

Individually, since his 182 against Zimbabwe last February, Brathwaite’s form at the highest level has taken a massive downturn.

He has scored one fifty in his last 16 innings, 75 against India in Port-of-Spain last July.

Since that Zimbabwe series, Brathwaite has scored 227 runs in 16 innings at an average of 15.13.

Brathwaite believes something big is around the corner.

“I’m coping okay. Test cricket is always a challenge but, as I say to the boys as well it’s the same thing for myself, you’ve just got to stay mentally tough. You’ve got to believe that something’s coming around the corner. Just keep doing the right things and everything will work out,” he said.

Ben Stokes labelled Gus Atkinson's debut England Test as "unbelievable", going on to call the retiring James Anderson "one of the GOATs" of English cricket. 

Stokes captained England to a comfortable triumph over the West Indies at Lord's on Friday, winning by an innings and 114 runs. 

Anderson ended his glittering career in style, bowling out Joshua Da Silva (9) for his 704th and final wicket for England. 

"A lot of people turned up to watch us but it was great to send Jimmy off the way he deserves," Stokes said.  

"We weren't quite banking on it to finish on day three but it is an amazing crowd. He is one of the 'GOATs' of English cricket.

"We had Gus Atkinson on debut with a chance of getting a 10-fer and Jimmy in his last game.

"It would have been an amazing end for him to take the last wicket like his great mate Stuart Broad but the one positive is no-one will lose sleep over it as he is the one who dropped it, he only has himself to blame."

Meanwhile, Atkinson became just the 19th male player to take a 10-fer on his Test match debut, his figures of 12-106 are the fourth-best anyone has managed in their first match.

The Surrey fast bowler claimed the final wicket on Friday to cap off a memorable debut, drawing praise from Stokes. 

"Unbelievable. The first time I saw him in person was against India at the World Cup. I had seen him on TV before but when you observe someone in person you get an understanding," Stokes added. 

"He isn't just about out-and-out pace, he has the skill as well. His ceiling is so high. Jamie Smith as well, two players having excellent debuts."

James Anderson held back tears as he called time on his glittering England career following an innings and 114-run triumph over the West Indies at Lord's. 

Anderson claimed three second-innings wickets in his 188th and final Test match to end up with 704 in his 21-year career, third on the all-time list behind Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Shane Warne (708).

Those in attendance at Lord's rose to their feet and applauded the England seamer as he left the field of play for one final time. 

"I'm a bit overwhelmed, actually. I have been all week. Walking to the ground, taking to the field. The crowd, the players. It has been amazing. It feels really special.

"It is special to win and to contribute as well. I'm happy I got a couple of top-order batters out in the second innings.

"I have been using hayfever as an excuse all week. There's been a few moments when it has been emotional. My daughters ringing the bell, walking out this morning.

"When I ran up to bowl my first ball I was in a daze and had not even thought where I was going to bowl."

Anderson kickstarted England's search for four wickets to ensure the triumph by bowling out Joshua Da Silva (9) having walked out to a guard of honour at Lord's. 

The 41-year-old was almost given the dream send-off but was unable to hold Gudakesh Motie's follow through. 

Instead, it would be Test debutant Gus Atkinson to capture the final wicket, becoming the first England bowler to take a 10-wicket match haul on debut since John Lever in India in 1976. 

"It would have been nice to get that catch. I should have got two hands to it. It was an awkward height and didn't stick. But I'm just happy we got the win," Anderson said.

"I am also buzzing for Gus. He has been around the group for a while now. He has worked really hard and to see him go out there and perform like that is amazing."

With England's bowling in the seemingly capable hands of Atkinson, Anderson will now look forward to a life away from the sport. 

"It is difficult to know. I have never retired before so it is hard to think about how you will feel," Anderson said. 

"It is good that I am sticking with the group all summer. We have a group of talented young bowlers who can have a great career at this level. So this is my job for the rest of the summer.

"At some point I will sit down and reflect on my career I've never really done that you are always thinking about the next series and next game."

James Anderson took a wicket in his final Test as England beat the West Indies by an innings and 114 runs on Friday.

The seamer was given an emotional guard of honour at the start of the day before getting the opening wicket, but it was Gus Atkinson who capped an impressive debut by taking the final three.

England needed four wickets to win after the West Indies finished day two with 79-6, and Anderson took little time to take his 704th and final wicket in his Test cricket career by bowling out Joshua Da Silva.

Atkinson then took two more in quick succession to keep the pressure on, with only Gudakesh Motie (31) able to reach double figures as West Indies struggled to gain any momentum.

It looked to be written in the stars for Anderson to complete the win as Motie chipped one back defensively, but he dropped it from close range after only reaching out one hand.

With the final ball before what was supposed to be a break, Atkinson got his 12th wicket of the Test, with Ben Duckett catching Jayden Seales at the boundary as the debutant finished with 5-61 to go with his first innings of 7-45.

Data Debrief: A legend bows out

The end of an era is upon us as Anderson bids an emotional farewell. After taking one wicket in the first innings, he followed it up with three more in the second, finishing with 704 in the longest format with 123 of those having come at Lord's.

But Atkinson has provided hope for the future after a stellar debut which saw him finish on 12-106 over the three days - he is the first England bowler to claim 10+ wickets on debut in a home test since 1946.

He is also just the 19th male player to take a 10-fer on Test match debut, with his figures the fourth-best anyone has managed in their first match.

Defending champions Jamaica and the Windward Islands were evenly poised at stumps on day one of their opening encounter of the 2024 CWI Rising Stars Under-19 2-Day Championship in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Thursday.

The Jamaicans, after winning the toss and bowling first at Arnos Vale, restricted the Windwards to 135 all out in 45.2 overs in their first innings.

West Indies Under-19 Captain Stephan Pascal led the way for the Windwards with 26 while Lee John, Kirtney Franklyn and Kirt Murray all chipped in with 23, 22, and 21, respectively.

Leg-spinner Tamarie Redwood was the pick of the Jamaican bowlers with 6-44 from 17.2 overs while medium pacer Michael Clarke took 4-26 from 12 overs.

The Jamaicans then reached 146-8 off 34.1 overs before declaring close to the end of the day’s play.

West Indies Under-19 opener Adrian Weir top scored with 38 while captain Brian Barnes made 30 and Steve Wedderburn, who also represented the West Indies Under-19s at the World Cup earlier this year, made 28.

Kirt Murray took 4-22 from his 6.1 overs of left arm spin while Aaron Joseph took 2-24 from five overs of medium pace.

The Windwards reached 27-0 off five overs at stumps, leading by 16 runs.

Full Scores:

Windward Islands U-19s 135 all out off 45.2 overs (Stephan Pascal 26, Lee John 23, Kirtney Franklyn 22, Kirt Murray 21, Tamarie Redwood 6-44, Michael Clarke 4-26) & 27-0 off five overs (Stephan Pascal 15*, Theo Edward 10*)

Jamaica U-19s 146-8 declared off 34.1 overs (Adrian Weir 38, Brian Barnes 30, Steve Wedderburn 28, Michael Clarke 24, Kirt Murray 4-22, Aaron Joseph 2-24)

At Sion Hill Playing Field, Trinidad & Tobago trail Barbados by 149 runs at stumps on day one.

Barbados made 200-9 declared off 67 overs after being put in to bat by their Trinidadian counterparts on Thursday.

Jatario Prescod led the way with 55* and was well supported by Joshua Morris who made a patient 43.

Raneico Smith (21) and captain Nathan Sealy (20) also provided useful knocks.

Left arm pacer Jacen Agard took 4-50 from 17 overs for T&T and was well supported by Aneal Rooplal’s 2-36 off 11 overs.

At stumps, Trinidad & Tobago reached 51-3 off 17 overs. Openers Justin Jagessar and Kyle Ramdoo made 22 and 15, respectively.

Full Scores:

Barbados U-19s 200-9 declared off 67 overs (Jatario Prescod 55, Joshua Morris 43, Raneico Smith 21, Nathan Sealy 20, Jacen Agard 4-50, Aneal Rooplal 2-36)

Trinidad & Tobago U-19s 51-3 off 17 overs (Justin Jagessar 22, Kyle Ramdoo 15)

At Park Hill Playing Field, Leeward Islands Under-19s trail Guyana Under-19s by 27 runs.

The Leewards restricted Guyana to 111 all out off 34.2 overs after winning the toss.

Jonathan Van Lange top scored for the Guyanese with 28 while Rampertab Ramnauth made 22 against 5-21 from West Indies Under-19 pacer Nathan Edward.

Micah McKenzie and Matthew Miller also bowled well with 2-18 from 10 overs and 2-23 from five overs, respectively.

The Leewards then reached 84-2 off 20 overs at stumps with Devanand Singh and captain Jewel Andrew at the crease on 22* and 16*, respectively.

Full Scores:

Guyana U-19s 111 all out off 34.2 overs (Jonathan van Lange 28, Rampertab Ramnauth 22, Nathan Edward 5-21, Micah McKenzie 2-18, Matthew Miller 2-23)

Leeward Islands U-19s 84-2 off 20 overs (Michael Palmer 24, Devanand Singh 22*, Jewel Andrew 16*)

Jamie Smith starred on his Test debut as he struck a half-cenutry to help England edge closer to a resounding victory against the West Indies at Lord's. 

Smith scored 70 runs from 119 deliveries as England followed on from their opening day dominance, ending the day with a 171-run lead over their opponents. 

The debutant was one of five players to reach a half-century, with Joe Root (68) and Harry Brook (50) backing up the opening day totals scored by Zak Crawley (76) and Ollie Pope (57).

England led by 250 runs after being bowled out for 371 and continued their dominance with the ball in hand. 

Anderson opened England's attack and got the first wicket of the afternoon, bowling West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite before capturing Alick Athanaze late on for his 703rd international wicket.

Ben Stokes also took two wickets (2-25) which included Jason Holder off the final ball of the day to leave the West Indies 79-6 heading into tomorrow's action. 

Data Debrief: Stokes and Smith impress at Lord's

Stokes two wickets at Lord's saw him claim his 200th Test wicket. In doing so, he became just the 3rd player to score 6,000 runs and take 200+ wickets in men's test history, after Jacques Kallis & Sir Garry Sobers.

With the bat, Smith's score of 70 is the 5th best on Test debut for an England men's wicketkeeper. Only Matt Prior - 126* v West Indies (Lord's 2007), Ben Foakes - 107 v Sri Lanka (Galle 2018) Jack Russell - 94 v Sri Lanka (Lord's 1988) Jos Buttler - 85 v India (Southampton 2014) have scored more. 

And while doing the damage with the ball in hand, Anderson was kept quiet with the bat. It was the seventh time that he has batted in a test innings but not faced a delivery, the first time since 2019.

The West Indies are on the brink of a quick defeat at stumps on day two of the first of three Tests against England at Lord’s.

The tourists ended Thursday 79-6 off 34.5 overs, needing a further 171 runs to force England to bat again.

Similar to the first innings, the West Indian top order failed to impress as Kraigg Brathwaite (4), Kirk McKenzie (0), Mikyle Louis (14) and Kavem Hodge (4) all fell within the first 20 overs of the innings with the West Indies teetering at just 37.

Alick Athanaze was next to go after battling hard for 22 to leave the West Indies 55-5 in the 29^th over before Jason Holder and Joshua Da Silva looked set to see out the English bowling for the rest of the day.

This proved not to be the case as Holder became Gus Atkinson’s ninth wicket of his magical debut in the day’s last over for 20 to leave the West Indies 79-6 off 34.5 overs at stumps.

Joshua Da Silva was 8* at the close of play.

James Anderson, Atkinson and skipper Ben Stokes have taken two wickets, each, so far.

Earlier, the hosts progressed to 371 all out off 90 overs after beginning day two 189-3.

Both overnight batsmen, Joe Root and Harry Brook, went on to bring up their fifties.

Root eventually fell for a 114-ball 68 including seven fours while Brook made an even 50 off 64 balls including five fours and a six.

The top scorer on the day, however, was debutant Jamie Smith who hit eight fours and two sixes on his way to a 119-ball 70.

On his return to the Test arena, Jayden Seales was the pick of the West Indian bowlers with 4-77 from 20 overs.

Gudakesh Motie and Jason Holder provided good support for Seales with 2-41 off 16 overs and 2-58 off 18 overs, respectively.

Full Scores:

West Indies 121 all out off 41.4 overs (Mikyle Louis 27, Gus Atkinson 7-45) & 79-6 off 34.5 overs (Alick Athanaze 22, James Anderson 2-11, Ben Stokes 2-25, Gus Atkinson 2-27)

England 371 all out off 90 overs (Zak Crawley 76, Jamie Smith 70, Joe Root 68, Ollie Pope 57, Harry Brook 50, Jayden Seales 4-77, Gudakesh Motie 2-41, Jason Holder 2-58)

West Indian opener Andre Fletcher hit a half century but it was not enough to prevent the Kandy Falcons from going down by eight wickets to the Galle Marvels in Lanka Premier League action at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium on Wednesday.

Fletcher hit a top score of 69 to help the Falcons produce 187-9 from their 20 overs after being put in to bat by the Marvels.

His knock lasted 43 balls and included six fours and four sixes. He got good support from opening partner Dinesh Chandimal who made 32 while Angelo Mathews and Ramesh Mendis chipped in with 29 and 28, respectively.

Prabath Jayasuriya took 3-30 from his four overs for Galle.

The Marvels then took 19.2 overs to reach 188-2 and secure a comfortable victory.

Alex Hales was the catalyst behind the successful chase with 86* off 55 balls including seven fours and four sixes while Bhanuka Rajapaksa finished 46* off 25 balls including five fours and a pair of sixes.

Captain and wicket-keeper Niroshan Dickwella also chipped in with 25.

Fletcher also took 1-11 from two overs with his part-time leg-spin.

The Marvels are now second in the points table after six games, level on eight points with leaders Jaffna Kings.

The Falcons have two wins from six games and sit last on the six-team table.

Full Scores:

Kandy Falcons 187-9 off 20 overs (Andre Fletcher 69, Dinesh Chandimal 32, Angelo Mathews 29, Ramesh Mendis 28, Prabath Jayasuriya 3-30, Dwayne Pretorius 2-37)

Galle Marvels 188-2 off 19.2 overs (Alex Hales 86*, Bhanuka Rajapaksa 46*, Niroshan Dickwella 25)

Sikandar Raza admitted "the wheels are coming off again" for Zimbabwe after India took the lead in their five-match T20I series.

After losing the first match, India are now 2-1 up in the series after three games having held out for a 23-run victory on Wednesday.

Shubman Gill settled straight back in after returning to the squad following their World Cup success, hitting 66 off 49 balls to set India on their way.

With Yashasvi Jaiswal (36) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (49) also finding their rhythm early on, India set an impressive target of 182-4.

Zimbabwe struggled in the field but also got off to a slow start with the bat until Dion Myers entered the fray, getting 65 not out to give the hosts some hope.

Washington Sundar's three wickets soon put a halt to their comeback as they fell short.

Raza was left to lament a frustrating game but was optimistic they could get back to their best.

"Think [the problem] is the fielding again," Raza said. "We are very proud of it, but the wheels are coming off again.

"We gave away 20 runs extra. We still have problems at the top [with the bat], but we are backing the boys. I know they are trying and once they do, we will come good again.

"It is time we players including me take the responsibility. I can accept some mistakes from the young side, but the seniors need to step up. But we need to back them.

"This is the best we have and this is the best that we can do. The game always rewards you, always does."

The fourth match will take place on Saturday, and a win for India would confirm their series win.

Data Debrief: India just too strong

Gll sped to his half-century in just 36 balls, earning his first 50 as India's T20I captain.

Despite their strong batting display, India were also the beneficiaries of 31 runs after Zimbabwe struggled to take their chances out on the field. The eventual win margin for India: 23.