Devon Conway shines bright with bat to lead Blackcaps' attack on Australia

David Warner is involved in match-fixing: TRS MLA Danam Nagender

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MLA and former minister, Danam Nagender has made a shocking statement about Sunrisers Hyderabad captain and Australia cricketer David Warner. Nagender alleged that the Australian batsman has been involved in match-fixing. "Hyderabad has got a good name and not taking players from here is condemnable. We feel sad and also condemn Warner being captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad who is involved in match-fixing. If Hyderabad doesn’t have representation (if players from here are not selected) then we will protest against IPL from being conducted in Hyderabad Rajiv Gandhi Stadium," said Nagender. Nagender also said that there would be a protest against IPL from being conducted in Hyderabad if players from the city were not selected. "We will protest against IPL from being conducted in Hyderabad if players from here are not selected. In Hyderabad city there are many deserving players, in previous selections many irregularities took place and we are condemning it. There are players from here who played for Ranji trophy, under 19. There are many deserving players who can play for IPL from here, but only Mohammed Siraj has so far made it," Nagender told reporters. Warner has led SRH to IPL triumph in 2016 after beating RCB in the final. The IPL 2021 mini auctions recently took place in Chennai where Chris Morris snapped the highest bid ever in the tournament’s history. He was sold to Rajasthan Royals for an amount of Rs.16.25 Cr while Australia’s Glenn Maxwell was picked up by RCB for Rs. 14.25 Cr.

Sri Lanka Cricket set to rope in Tom Moody as Director of Cricket: Reports

Sri Lanka Cricket is set to rope in former Australian Tom Moody as Director of Cricket, a post created under the guidance of the Cricket Committee that is headed by former great Aravinda de Silva and other prominent cricketers. Moody, if he joins the setup as the Director will oversee all cricketing affairs of the board that includes coaching, overseeing domestic tournaments, development of squads, monitoring fitness standards of players. He will work over the Head Coach Mickey Arthur and Head of Coaching Jerome Jayaratne and will report directly to the cricket Committee headed by de Silva. "I think it will be important for him to come as an independent person with a different view, someone who has been involved in cricket in Australia and understands their structure, who has been involved in the IPL and those structures, a person who has been involved in county cricket with Worcestershire and understands their structure, and also being involved with the Caribbean Premier League," ESPNcricinfo quoted Aravinda de Silva as saying. Although a final decision of roping him lies in the hands of the Executive Committee of the board, it is likely that the Australian who had once served as the head coach of the Sri Lankan side from 2005-07 will come back to the island nation of his second stint. According to various reports in the local media, Moody will be under obligation to serve only 180 days in Sri Lanka and hence his other obligations can also be fulfilled while taking up this opportunity to revamp the cricketing system in the country. Moody had a fairly successful run in his first stint with the Sri Lankan team as the side won Tests away from home in England, New Zealand and Pakistan. In ODI cricket, under his guidance, the team led by Mahela Jayawardane reached the finals of the ICC World Cup in 2007.

Lewis Gregory’s all-round show takes Islamabad home in a thrilling finish against Multan

England all-rounder Lewis Gregory shone with both bat and ball to get Islamabad United off to a winning start to their Pakistan Super League 2021 campaign at National Stadium, Karachi. Gregory scored a brilliant 49 off 31 balls which included an 18 run over off Sohail Tanvir in the penultimate over of the innings when United required 20 off two overs with seven wickets down. The Somerset player hit six fours and a huge six in his innings. Gregory walked into bat in a precarious situation with Islamabad struggling at 74-5 and losing another wicket in the next two runs. He then stitched together a 30 ball 43 run stand with Faheem Ashraf to take the game close. Once Faheem got out with United still needing 34 from 24 balls. Among those 34, Gregory scored 31, taking the responsibility to take his team home being the senior partner at the crease. Earlier in the evening, Islamabad skipper Shadab Khan won the toss and sent Multan to bat. Multan captain Mohammad Rizwan took upon the challenge scoring a beautifully compiled 71 off 53 balls. Although Rizwan got to his fifty in just 31 balls, he got slower as the time passed and so did the scoring rate of the entire Multan side. While they were 104/3 at the end of 13 overs, it was disappointing for the team to get only 46 runs in the next 42 balls. Apart from Rizwan, no other batsman could get going. Mohammad Wasim Jr. was the highest wicket-taker for the United, taking three wickets on debut. Coming to chase tricky 151 to win, the United had a good start scoring 30 in just 3.3 overs before the first wicket went down. After that, 40-year-old Shahid Afridi took two wickets and executed a runout to push United to 74-6.

PSL 6: Disdained Gladiators look for first win against buoyant Qalandars

After winning their opening encounter against the Peshawar Zalmi, the Qalandars have their next challenge waiting for them on the very next day. It is the Quetta Gladiators, who were humiliated by Karachi Kings in their previous encounter would face the Qalandar challenge at the National Stadium in Karachi. Gladiators excepting their leader to stand up to the challenge Sarfaraz Ahmed, the skipper of the Gladiators and the biggest leader and motivator in the side got out for just five runs and that too in a fashion, not usually associated with him. He made just 5 runs and his dismissal put off the entire team. It is thus important that he along with senior players like Chris Gayle, Ben Cutting and Mohammad Nawaz need to take up the responsibility and make sure they give enough confidence to young guns like Tom Banton and their three quicks to play their natural game. Qalandars look to polish their skills The Lahore team played a great game, but their chase was jittery nonetheless. Senior pros like Sohail Akhtar, Fakhar Zaman and overseas imports like David Wiese and Samit Patel need to bring out their best. Hadn’t it been for a Rashid Khan special, the Qalandars might have been staring down the barrel. Thus in the early phase of the game, the men from Lahore would want their mistakes to be rectified. Lahore Qalandars vs Quetta Gladiators: Match Details Match Number- 04 Date and Time: 22nd February, 07:30 pm IST, 07:00 pm Local, 02:00 pm GMT Venue- National Stadium, Karachi Broadcast and Live stream: Sony Six and Sony LIV Pitch Report The pitch for this game would be a used pitch only. In the last three games played at Karachi, all of them have been low scoring ones only. But that is not because of the slowness of the wicket, rather because of some brilliant display of bowling. The wickets here have had true bounce, it’s the lack of application from batsmen and some very serious pace of change from bowlers that have made the contests low scoring. Weather and Toss Karachi would have clear night skies for the game with a lot of dew on display. The skipper winning the toss would go for a bowl first without any doubt. Probable XIs Lahore Qalandars Fakhar Zaman, Sohail Akhtar (c), Agha Salman, Mohammad Hafeez, Ben Dunk (wk), Samit Patel, David Wiese, Rashid Khan, Ahmed Daniyal, Shaheen Afridi, Salman Mirza Quetta Gladiators Chris Gayle, Tom Banton, Saim Ayub, Sarfaraz Ahmed (c & wk), Azam Khan, Ben Cutting, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Hasnain, Usman Shinwari, Naseem Shah, Qais Ahmad Dream XI / Fantasy XI Chris Gayle, Tom Banton, Sohail Akhtar, Mohammad Hafeez (vc), Sarfaraz Ahmed (c & wk), Ben Cutting, Rashid Khan, Ahmed Daniyal, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain