Dasun Shanaka to lead Sri Lanka in World T20 2021, Maheesh Theekshana also picked

CPL 2021 | TKR vs SKNP: Evin Lewis' onslaught helps Patriots return to winning ways

St Kitts and Nevis Patriots etched a thumping win over Trinbago Knight Riders by 8 wickets after riding on a brilliant hundred from Evin Lewis while chasing 160 in St Kitts on Sunday. The Patriots openers Chris Gayle and Lewis stitched a first-wicket stand of 67 runs in six overs before Gayle departed for 35 off 18 deliveries. The left-hander’s dismissal was followed by Devon Thomas’ scalp who was undone for 1 off 5 balls by Kieron Pollard. Lewis was then joined by Ravi Bopara and the two batsmen made sure that there wasn’t any further fall of wickets during the chase. Bopara held the fort from one end as he scored 7* off 13. Lewis on the other hand, did majority of the scoring and notched up an unbeaten 102 off 52 deliveries that included 11 maximums and five fours. Sunil Narine was the pick of the bowlers for TKR as he gave away just 10 runs in his four overs. Earlier, the Trinbago side managed to put 159/7, courtesy a 34-ball 47 from Munro and then a late surge from Narine who chipped with 33* off 18. Narine’s knock included a total of four sixes. The Knight Riders lost a couple of early wickets before Munro took on the onus on himself and tried to steady the ship for the side from one end. He first stitched a 50-run partnership with Bravo for the third wicket and then added 36 runs for the fourth wicket with Kieron Pollard before getting out. The Knight Riders then lost a few wickets in quick succession before Narine came in for the rescue. With this win, the Patriots now have 12 points under their belt. Patriots skipper Dwayne Bravo expressed his delight on the win and lauded Lewis for his knock. “Very pleased with the win. We were coming off three losses and to beat the best team in the tournament felt good. TKR like to chase, so the idea was to make them rethink their strategies. Great to see Evin get a hundred,” he said after the match. The Knight Riders dropped a few catches in the middle and captain Pollard did accept that the fielding wasn’t really up to the mark. “They have a lot of power, lot of guys who can take the game away from us. It was a good wicket and we were short with the bat. It (fielding) didn't look good and sometimes it happens. You don't want to miss the catches but that happens,” he said. The two sides will now lock horns with each other on Sunday at the same venue.

CPL 2021 | SKNP vs TKR: It's Chris Gayle vs Kieron Pollard show in clash of table-toppers

The 27th game of the ongoing edition of the Caribbean Premier League between St Kitts and Nevis Patriots and the Trinbago Knight Riders will be a clash of the titans of the current edition as both the sides are positioned number one and two on the points table. Both sides have won five out of their eight games this season but a positive net run rate has helped the defending champions Knight Riders to take the top position. The two West Indies heavyweights Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard who are leading their respective sides will come head to head for the first time in this edition and the fans will have an extra incentive of this battle inside a battle to follow the game. For the Patriots, Evin Lewis and skipper Gayle hold the key with the bat while the wrist spin of Fawad Ahmed has been instrumental in the team’s success so far this season. On the other hand, the Knight Riders are blessed with a much more balanced side and have a longer list of match-winners to turn the heat on any opposition at any phase of the game. Match Details St Kitts and Nevis Patriots vs Trinbago Knight Riders, Match 27 Venue: Warner Park, Basseterre, St Kitts Date & Time: September 12th at 4:30 AM IST Live Streaming: Fancode Pitch and weather The conditions in St Kitts is expected to be heavenly stacked in the favour of spinner as the pitch has had a lot of game this season. Apart from the turn, the slower nature of the surface will also hinder batsmen from scoring freely and they will have their tasks cut out to take their sides to a defendable total. Probable XI St Kitts and Nevis Patriots Evin Lewis, Devon Thomas, Chris Gayle (C), Andre McCarthy, Ravi Bopara, Fabian Allen, Joshua Da Silva(WK), Dominic Drakes, Jon-Russ Jaggesar, Paul van Meekeren, Fawad Ahmed Trinbago Knight Riders Lendl Simmons, Tion Webster, Colin Munro, Kieron Pollard(C), Darren Bravo, Tim Seifert(WK), Sunil Narine, Khary Pierre, Akeal Hosein, Ravi Rampaul, Jayden Seales Fantasy XI Devon Thomas (wk), Sunil Narine (C), Lendl Simmons, Evin Lewis, Colin Munro, Chris Gayle, Fabian Allen(VC), Kieron Pollard, Ravi Rampaul, Akeal Hosein, Dominic Drakes

Liam Livingstone all set to join Rajasthan Royals for second phase of IPL 2021

Amidst pull out by top English players from the second phase of IPL 2021, Liam Livingstone, the swashbuckling England middle-order batsman has made himself available for the second phase of IPL starting from 19th September. Livingstone has been a revelation in the shortest format of the game and recently notched up the fastest T20I century by an Englishman. Taking to their Twitter handle, Rajasthan Royals confirmed about the availability of the hard-hitting batsman. Meanwhile, it must be noted that top brass English players like Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan have pulled out of the tournament. However, the reason behind their pullout is yet to be disclosed. Meanwhile, Livingstone has been in staggering form off late. After finishing as the leading run-getter in the T20I series against Pakistan, he went onto amass most runs even in the inaugural Hundred. It was his heroics with the bat which led Birmingham Pheonix to the final but an unfortunate run out cost them the tournament. More to follow....

IPL 2021 | Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav return to Mumbai Indians camp

As soon as the fifth and final Test between England and India was “cancelled”, the focus shifted to the second part of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League which is scheduled to take off in the UAE from September 19. There were discussions and expectations that players, especially the Indian ones will be flowing to the UAE directly from Manchester and later it was reported that the players will be flying on a chartered flight. Mumbai Indians are the first among other IPL sides to welcome their star players in skipper Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah among the squad to restart their defence of the title. Both Rohit and Bumrah have been the lynchpins of Mumbai Indians’ success in the history of IPL and the side have won as many as five IPL trophies after Rohit took over the reins from Ricky Ponting in 2013. Both of them have also been the best player for India in their respective departments in the series against England the Mumbai team management would be hoping they would replicate their performances in the shortest format as well. The Mumbai Indians will take on the Chennai Super Kings in the first encounter of the revamped version of the IPL this year. Indian players refused to play the Manchester Test after the second physio Yogesh Parmar tested Covid-19 positive after arriving in the city for the final Test. India’s refusal to play created a chaotic situation for both the ECB and the BCCI for the final decision on the game and the series. Indian players have also been blamed for prioritising the “money” they would be earning from IPL over Test cricket by some section of UK media.