CPL 2021 | SKNP vs SLK: Inconsistent Kings run into red-hot Patriots at halfway stage

The St Kits and Navis Patriots have been the team to beat in the ongoing edition of the Caribbean Premier League and they have always found a way to come back in the game and win it. No wonder they have had a 100 per cent win record this year from five matches and when all seemed to be over in the last game, it was Sheldon Cottrell of all people who smashed the ball over the fence to earn an unlikely win for the Patriots.

On the other hand, their opponent in the next game, the St Lucia Kings have had an on and off-season having won just two games out of the four and losing as many as winning. Unlike Patriots, the Kings have not been clinical in their approach and have also missed the match-winning contributions to turn the tide in their favour.

The Patriots will rely on Evin Lewis to provide a blitzkrieg start at the top of the order while the job of stopping the Kings batsmen will fall on the old and experienced shoulders of the skipper Dwayne Bravo. The men in form Sherfane Rutherford and Dominic Drakes will hope to continue their dream run of form they have found this season.

The universe boss Chris Gayle has not come to the party yet and Bravo would bank on him to win some matches this year as well. If he gets going the unbeatne streak for the Patriots is more than likely to continue against the Kings.

For the Kings, Roston Chase and Andre Fletcher will be the most experienced players going around and the team will expect a lot from them if they have to win more matches than losing this year.

The presence of Faf du Plessis in the Kings camp enriches the side with a lot of experience but it has not translated into substantial performances and the side will be hoping to fix things from here on.

St Kitts and Nevis Patriots vs Barbados Royals

Match Number: 15

Date and Time: September 04, 2021, 07:30 PM IST, 2:30 pm GMT

Venue: Warner Park, Basseterre

Broadcast: Star Sports

Live Stream: Fancode

Pitch and weather

All the matches of the CPL 2021 were scheduled to take place at the same venue Warner Park and the pitch has started to show signs of overuse. The pace in the pitch is starting to die down and it provided bowlers such as Bravo, who relies on variation in pace magnificent opportunity.

The weather at Warner Park will be humid and will test players’ endurance. There is little to no chance of rain and it should be a cracker of a contest.

Probable XI

St Kitts and Nevis Patriots

Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Devon Thomas (wk), Ravi Bopara, Sherfane Rutherford, Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo (c), Dominic Drakes, Paul van Meekeren, Naseem Shah/Fawad Ahmed, Sheldon Cottrell.

St Lucia Kings

Andre Fletcher (wk), Faf du Plessis (c), Roston Chase, Mark Deyal, Tim David, Samit Patel, Keron Cottoy/Rakheem Cornwall, Alzarri Joseph, Jeavor Royal, Obed McCoy, Kesrick Williams.

Fantasy XI

Andre Fletcher (WK), Roston Chase, Faf du Plessis, Sherfane Rutherford, Evin Lewis (C), DJ Bravo(VC), Fabian Allen, Obed McCoy, Sheldon Cottrell, Dominic Drakes, Kesrick Williams

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4th Test, Day 2: India fight hard to stay in contest after Pope, Woakes give hosts big advantage

It could have been a lot worse than it actually was for India at the end of the second day of the fourth Test at the Oval if not for first a penetrative bowling attack and then highly disciplined opening pair in Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. Having dealt England a killer blow at the end of the first day and then starting brilliantly in the morning session, Indian pacers lost their way and conceded too many easy balls for England batsmen since the second hour of the day. However, between loose balls and inaccurate lengths, there were some wonderful deliveries and bad shots from England batsmen that never pushed them out of the game. For once, they were in a position to restrict England’s led below 50 runs but Chris Woakes thwarted that ambitions with an aggressive fifty filled with remarkable shots composure. Kohli’s frustration and lack of communication The days like the second day of the fourth Test exposes Virat Kohli’s rigidity in decision making while on the field. He should have been in Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj’s ears, especially as they are not experienced as the trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma when they were trying to search magic deliveries. The first half of the first session yielded just 25 runs and two wickets as Bumrah and Umesh tightened their length around the off stump. However, the next set of pacers in Siraj and Shardul opened the tap and allowed the batsmen some easy run-scoring opportunities. What could have frustrated Kohli more was that they leaked runs on both sides of the wicket while the field was set for them to bowl in the channel outside off stump. His frustrations would be justified but his inability to sense a moment where he could have a word with the bowler and reiterate where they are supposed might have helped them as well Later, when the last batting pair of Woakes and Anderson was there at the crease, and as Bumrah was bowling short of good length deliveries seeing no help from the pitch when bowled at full length, he should have been at least reactive to put a third man in position having seen England batsmen taking easy runs through that area playing on the backfoot. The tension and frustration on his face were quite evident when Woakes was tearing apart the bowling attack shot by shot and all the options of playing five bowlers including four pacers did not come to rescue him at that stage. He should consider himself lucky that the bowlers find inspiration from themselves to produce wicket-taking deliveries even on unsupportive pitches such as the Oval on the second day otherwise it would have been curtains for the tourists on the second day itself. Pope blesses England’s revival Ollie Pope is rated very highly by the England team management and his return was obvious as soon as Jonny Bairstow took the gloves in the absence of Jos Buttler. There are also talk that he could be the next Joe Root for England cricket and he could not have picked better moments and game to show some glimpses of those promises yet again. England were in uncharted territory as soon as Root was castled by Umesh on the first day and with the fall of Malan early on on the second day, all the batsmen who had a good run for form in the last game were back in the pavilion. He came very early to bat when Overton was sent back by Umesh and batted with immense elegance and flair to keep India at bay for the large part of the second day. For all the brilliance of the Indian attack, it was him who shifted the momentum back in England favour with three fours off Shardul Thakur in over right at the start of the second hour of the day. The next over by Siraj was met with the same treatment by him and Bairstow and all the pressure mounted in the first hour was settled within a space of 12 balls. He was batting with control around off stump and offered no chance to Indian bowlers. He was crouching low in defence and never allowed even sharp bounce on some of the Bumrah’s deliveries to catch the edge or splice of his bat and carried England past India’s first innings score of 191. He looked all set for a three-figure mark at his home ground but his stars were not brighter than Shardul Thakur, who has not done too much wrong in this Test match so far and went back for 81. Down to Rahul-Rohit once again India had to bat a period of 16 overs on the second day and the lead of 99 runs must have been in their mind, at least the openers, who have been the mainstay of India’s batting in the series. A period of 16 overs have been long enough in the series to leave a catastrophic effect on India’s batting but none of them made it to appear in their batting. Rohit offered a chance to Rory Burns in the slip which he could not see coming his way while Rahul was beaten by some deliveries that nipped back towards him off the seam. The first two overs presented them with their biggest challenge but they were looking to score runs whenever England pacers erred in their lengths by bowling short. They have taken India to almost half of the lead they have conceded and would be eager to make up for their failure in the first end. They have been India’s best batsmen so far in the series and although they would be willing to make a mark for themselves, they would also be hoping for a change in script and middle order to come to the party. Looking forward to the third day India have all their wicket intact with 56 runs behind England’s lead of 99 runs and the first session of the third day will set the tone for both the sides. India have been in this situation before in this series but have gone on to squander great starts in the series so far. They have suffered a repetitive collapse in the morning session in the series until now and the batting lineup will be banking on players to finally put their hands up in an all-important game. On the other hand, England would hope that the moisture on the pitch in the morning session will help the pacers get some seam movement which was almost missing for the most part of the second day. They would also be confident of challenging the Indian middle-order who has not turned up for big scores in a long-long time.

Indian fans celebrate Mohammed Shami's brithday in style at The Oval

Irrespective of the team’s performance, the love of the fans for the Indian cricket team and players are almost unmatchable, and there was one more evidence of it on the second day of the fourth Test against England at the Oval. It was Mohammed Shami’s birthday today and although he was no part of the playing XI, the Indian contingent of the fans present at the ground celebrated his birthday in grand style. Some members of the crowd had a customised T-Shirt with Shami’s portrait printed on it and brought a cake to the venue. The gesture also moved Shami to come forward and cut the take for his fans. Meanwhile, Indian bowlers bowled wicket-taking deliveries but also bowled enough loose balls for England to take the game away from them. The hosts took a big lead of 99 runs on the back of strong performances from Ollie Pope and Chris Woakes. Pope batted brilliantly for his 81 while Woakes scored a powerful half-century to help England take the lead. Having lost the toss and asked to bat first, India were bundled out for 191 on the first day and the hosts posted 290 runs in their first innings. Shardul Thakur was their best batsman with a swashbuckling half-century.

BAN vs NZ | 2nd T20I: Mustafizur Rahman keeps calm to win humdinger at Dhaka for Bangladesh

With 20 runs needed off the last ball and Mustafizur Rahman bowling it, he would be backed against even the best in the business. Only this time though, the Fizz was bowling against two players not rated so highly for their T20 attributes, Tom Latham and newbie Cole McConchie. Thus it was more or less confirmed that he would win this for Bangladesh, the first four balls went according to plan as well as the cutter master gave away only seven runs and now 13 runs were needed for a win off the last two balls. What transpired after that was unbelievable. Fizz bowled a slow ball beamer which went four a four after hitting a raised bat of Latham. The Kiwi captain, who by then had hit 64 runs off 48 balls was backing himself to land the free hit into the boundary as now eight runs were required to get from two balls, one of which was to be a free hit. Fizz however had other ideas as he made a strong comeback after the lapse as he bowled a toe crushing yorker to Latham on the free hit which resulted in two leg byes. With six needed off the last ball, Fizz bowled yet another ball in the blockhole which could only be drilled to sweeper square leg for a single. And thus Bangladesh won the second T20I to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. The Kiwi chase had not got off to a great start as the first two wickets were lost off 18 runs in the first four overs only. Lathan then teamed up with a comparatively experienced Will Young as the duo added 43 runs to give some semblance to the chase. While Young was removed by Shakib Al Hasan, Latham carried on making meaningful partnerships with Colin de Grandhomme, Henry Nicholls and McConchie respectively to get closer to the target. Shakib and Mahedi Hasan picked two wickets each for Bangladesh. Earlier in the day, Bangladesh won the toss and decided to bat first. Courtesy of a 59 run opening stand where both Liton Das and Mohammad Naim went past 30 for their individual scores, the Tigers managed to get a good start. Although big guns like Shakib and Mushfiqur Rahim didn’t fire, skipper Mahmudullah and Nurul Hasan with their 32 run partnership off 22 balls managed to get the green brigade to 141 in their 20 overs. Mahmudulah top-scored with 37 from 32 balls. Rachin Ravindra was the pick of the bowlers for Ne Zealand as he took three wickets for 22 runs in his four-over spell. The two teams will now come back on Sunday, 05th September to play the third match at the same venue of Sher-E-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka.

Keshav Maharaj to lead South Africa in remaining ODIs after Temba ruled out with injury

A freak injury that South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma received while batting in the first of the three ODIs against Sri Lanka has ruled him out of the rest of the series. Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj has been appointed as the captain of the side for the two ODIs while the National Selection Committee would discuss and decide about the T20I captain, who would lead the side in the three-match T20I series beginning September 10. "The timelines for return to play will be defined subsequent to that," the CSA official release said about Bavuma’s return as the right-hand batter has been sent back to South Africa to consult a specialist as soon as possible. Bavuma was hit on the hand from throw while completing a run in the 28th over and from there on didn’t bat any further after retiring hurt on a score of 38 when he and Aiden Markram were going great with a 106 run partnership between the two, chasing a target of 301. Maharaj, 31, who has now got the opportunity to lead the side has played only 12 ODIs before and has taken 15 wickets in them while in 26 Tests he has to his credit 129 wickets. South Africa eventually lost the game by 14 runs as Markram was dismissed soon after Bavuma’s departure. The second ODI would be played on September 05 at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.