LPL 2021: Mathews, bowlers hand Colombo Stars thumping win against Galle Gladiators

The Ashes | 2nd Test: Josh Hazlewood ruled out with side injury

Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the second Ashes Test scheduled to take place in Adelaide from December 16, 2021. The fast bowler will not be available for selection due to a side injury. "Hazlewood returned to Sydney yesterday afternoon for further assessment and rehabilitation with a decision on his fitness for the Boxing Day Test to be made in due course," said Cricket Australia in a media release. Hazlewood picked up two wickets in the first innings and one in the second during Australia’s 9-wicket win in the first Test in Brisbane. The visitors were bowled out for 147 in the first innings while Australia posted 425 in reply, courtesy a 152 from Travis Head and half-centuries from David Warner and Marnus Labuschange. The Joe Root-led side then made a good comeback in the game after the captain along with Dawid Malan provided the resistance as the two batters struck individual fifties but the failure of middle-order in the second innings pushed them on the back foot. The home side eventually won the match by 9 wickets, taking a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Pak vs WI, 1st T20I | Preview - New look Windies take on proven Pakistan

A fresh looking West Indies team was supposed to take on Pakistan, one of the best T20I teams going around in the world at the moment. With the three match series scheduled to kick off from Monday, 13 December in Karachi, West Indies were dealt a triple jolt of Covid-19 cases with Sheldon Cottrell, Kyle Mayers and Roston Chase testing positive just a day ahead of the first game. As if the West Indies did not have enough problems already. They have travelled to Pakistan aiming to get over their horrible run in the ICC T20 World Cup. The part of the process included leaving behind the likes of Dwayne Bravo - who retired after the WC and Chris Gayle - who is not part of the plans any longer. Two generational talents who defined the last decade when it comes to the evolution of T20 cricket. For that matter, Andre Russell, the last remaining proven powerhouse of the golden generation has snubbed the series and is playing in the Big Bash League in Australia at the moment. The visitors do not have the services of eight players in total. Young gun Fabian Allen and Obed McCoy have been ruled out with an injury. Evin Lewis, Shimron Hetmyer, Kieron Pollard, Lendl Simmons and as explained before, Andre Russell are not a part of this tour, and Jason Holder has been rested. While that means there is plenty of scope to experiment, but when an inexperienced side like this comes up against a T20I powerhouse like Pakistan, things generally do not go very well for them. West Indies Squad Nicholas Pooran (c & wk), Darren Bravo, Dominic Drakes, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Brandon King, Gudakesh Motie, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jr, Rovman Powell. Not a full strength Pakistan, but still good enough Pakistan on their side are not playing a full strength squad as well. Shoiab Malik in Sri Lanka playing the Lanka Premier League, while the team has chosen to rest Hasan Ali. Imad Wasim and Sarfaraz Ahmed are not playing as well. The team is coming off a fantastic T20 World Cup and a strong series in Bangladesh, where the absolutely drubbed the subcontinental threat Bangladesh three-nil at their own backyard Pakistan Squad Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir Match Details Pakistan vs West Indies Match - 1st T20I Date & Venue - 13 December, National Stadium Karachi Timing - 6:30 PM IST (6 PM local) Broadcast - Sony Sports network Pitch Report The pitches in Karachi have been quite lively in the last Pakistan Super League with pace bowlers getting generous purchase for at least the first four overs inside the powerplay. Once that is done, the wicket turns into a batting paradise with a little hint of help for the spinners. Probable Playing XI West Indies Brandon King, Shai Hope, Darren Bravo, Nicholas Pooran (capt, wk), Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Dominic Drakes, Sheldon Cottrell, Hayden Walsh Jr, Oshane Thomas Pakistan Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan (vc), Mohammad Nawaz, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani CE Fantasy XI Mohammad Rizwan (C), Babar Azam (vc), Rovman Powell, Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, Odeon Smith, Sheldon Cottrell, Hayden Walsh Jr, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Oshane Thomas

PSL players decide on final squads; tournament to begin on January 27

The Pakistan Super League teams have finalised their squads for the 2022 season. After retaining up to eight players earlier this week, the teams were allowed to complete their 18-member squad on December 12, Sunday. The next edition of the tournament begins on January 27 and will be played in two legs across one month. The matches will be held in Karachi and Lahore. As reported earlier, Fakhar Zaman was bought back by his team Lahore Qalandars despite not retaining him. Tim David on the other hand made big gains after playing in the Indian Premier League and has joined Multan Sultans as their platinum player. Barring Fakhar, all other platinum picks were foreigners, with Jason Roy, Colin Munro, Hazratullah Zazai and Chris Jordan being the rest of them. Here are the final squads for the upcoming PSL season. Draft picks for Islamabad United Colin Munro (New Zealand, Platinum), Marchant de Lange (South Africa) (Diamond), Danish Aziz, Muhammad Akhlaq (both Pakistan), Reece Topley (England), , Zafar Gohar (Pakistan) (all Silver), Mubasir Khan, Zeeshan Zameer (Emerging), Athar Mehmood (Pakistan) and Rehmanullah Gurbaz (Afghanistan) (both Supplementary) Final squad Asif Ali, Colin Munro, Hasan Ali (both Platinum) Faheem Ashraf, Marchant De Lange, Shadab Khan (Brand Ambassador), Alex Hales (Mentor), Azam Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr (all Gold) Danish Aziz, Mohammad Akhlaq, Paul Stirling, Reece Topley, Zafar Gohar (all Silver) Mubasir Khan, Zeeshan Zameer (both Emerging) Rehmanullah Gurbaz and Ather Mehmood (both Supplementary) Draft picks for Karachi Kings Chris Jordan (England, Platinum), Lewis Gregory (England, Diamond), Mohammad Imran, Rohail Nazir (both Pakistan), Tom Abell (England), Umaid Asif (Pakistan) (all Silver), Faisal Akram, Qasim Akram (both Emerging), Romario Shepherd (West Indies) and Talha Ahsan (both Supplementary) Final squad Babar Azam, Chris Jordan, Imad Wasim (all Platinum) Mohammad Amir, Lewis Gregory, Mohammad Nabi (all Diamond) Joe Clarke (Brand Ambassador), Aamir Yamin, Sharjeel Khan ( both Gold) Mohammad Ilyas, Mohammad Imran, Rohail Nazir, Tom Abell, Umaid Asif (all Silver) Faisal Akram, Qasim Akram (Emerging) Romario Shepherd and Talha Ahsan (both Supplementary) Draft picks for Lahore Qalandars Fakhar Zaman (Pakistan, Platinum), Abdullah Shafique (Pakistan), Harry Brook, Phil Salt (both England) (all Gold), Dean Foxcroft (South Africa), Kamran Ghulam (Pakistan) (both silver), Maaz Khan, Zaman Khan (both Emerging) , Samit Patel (England) and Syed Faridoum Mehmood (Pakistan) (Supplementary) Final squad Fakhar Zaman, Rashid Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, (all Platinum) Haris Rauf (Diamond, Brand Ambassador), David Wiese, Mohammad Hafeez (both Diamond), Abdullah Shafique, Harry Brook, Phil Salt (all Gold) Ahmed Daniyal, Dean Foxcroft, Sohail Akhtar, Kamran Ghulam, Zeeshan Ashraf (all Silver) Maaz Khan, Zaman Khan (both Emerging) Samit Patel and Syed Faridoum Mehmood (Supplementary) Draft picks for Multan Sultans Tim David (Australia, Platinum), Odean Smith (West Indies, Diamond), Asif Afridi, Anwar Ali, Imran Khan Snr, Rumman Raees (all Pakistan), Rovman Powell (West Indies) (all Silver), Aamer Azmat, Abbas Afridi (both Emerging), Blessing Muzarabani (Zimbabwe) and Ihsanullah (Pakistan) (Supplementary) Final squad Tim David, Mohammad Rizwan, Rilee Rossouw (all Platinum) Imran Tahir (Mentor), Odean Smith (both Diamond) Sohaib Maqsood (Diamond), Khushdil Shah (Brand Ambassador), Shahnawaz Dahani, Shan Masood (all Gold) Anwar Ali, Asif Afridi, Imran Khan Snr, Rumman Raees Rovman Powell (all Silver) Aamer Azmat, Abbas Afridi (both Emerging) Blessing Muzarabani and Ihsanullah (Supplementary) Draft picks for Peshawar Zalmi Hazratullah Zazai (Afghanistan, Platinum), Usman Qadir (Pakistan, Gold), Arshad Iqbal, Kamran Akmal, Salman Irshad, Sameen Gul (all Pakistan) (all Silver), Sirajuddin, Mohammad Aamer (Emerging), Ben Cutting (Australia) and Mohammad Haris (Pakistan) (both Supplementary) Final squad Hazratulah Zazai, Liam Livingstone, Wahab Riaz (all Platinum) Haider Ali, Sherfane Rutherford, Shoaib Malik (all Diamond) Hussain Talat (Gold), Saqib Mahmood (Gold, Brand Ambassador),Usman Qadir (Gold) Arshad Iqbal, Kamran Akmal (Mentor), Salman Irshad, Sameen Gul, Tom Kohler-Cadmore (all Silver) Mohammad Aamer, Sirajuddin (Emerging) Ben Cutting and Mohammad Haris (both Supplementary) Draft picks for Quetta Gladiators Jason Roy (England, Platinum), James Faulkner (Australia, Diamond), Ben Duckett (England), Khurram Shehzad (Pakistan), Naveen-ul-Haq (Afghanistan), Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal (both Pakistan) (Silver), Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Ashar Qureshi, (Emerging), Ahsan Ali (Pakistan) and Noor Ahmed (Pakistan) (Supplementary) Final squad James Vince, Jason Roy, Sarfaraz Ahmed (all Platinum) Iftikhar Ahmed, James Faulkner, Mohammad Nawaz (all Diamond) Shahid Afridi (Mentor), Mohammad Hasnain (Brand Ambassador), Naseem Shah (all Gold) Ben Duckett, Khurram Shehzad, Naveen-Ul-Haq, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal (all Silver) Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Ashar Qureshi (Emerging) Ahsan Ali and Noor Ahmed (Supplementary)

LPL 2021 | Shoaib Malik’s all-round show leads Jaffna Kings to easy win over Kandy Warriors

Kandy Warriors, having tested their first win in their last match suffered yet another defeat, their fourth in five matches, as Jaffna Kings downed them by seven wickets to consolidate their own position at the top of the Lanka Premier League 2021 points table. Shoaib Malik was the hero for the Kings with his all-round showing in the rain-curtailed game at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. The Kings were set a modest target of only 97 runs to chase in 12 overs and they did it in only 8.4 overs to boost their net run rate as well. The chase started in a brisk fashion as the openers Upul Tharanga and Avishka Fernando got off to a flyer, hitting 13 off 8 and 23 off 12 deliveries respectively before being dismissed. At 47-2 in just the fifth over, the game was almost going only one way and it went that way only even as Tom Kohler-Cadmore fell as the third wicket in the innings. Malik was joined by Thisara Perera, the skipper of the Kings and the two build up an unbeaten 43 runs stand. Malik remained not out on 14 off nine balls and the left-hander Perera hit four fours and one six to get to 29 off just 13 balls and finish the game. Earlier in the day, Kings after winning the toss decided to field first as the decision was guided by the turbulent weather which threatened for heaven to open up and rain anytime. In the curtailed 12 over a side game, Malik bowled with control and precision as the 39 year old Pakistani gave way only 19 runs in his three overs and also picked up an important wicket of compatriot Ahmed Shehzad to break the 35 run opening stand. Charith Asalanka top-scored for Warriors with an unbeaten 44 from 34 balls.