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PAK vs NZ | Tom Blundell ruled out of ODI series, Daryl Mitchell called up as replacement

New Zealand batsman Tom Blundell has been ruled out of the upcoming ODI series against Pakistan due to a left quad strain. He has been replaced by Daryl Mitchell in the squad that will challenge Pakistan in their home conditions from September 17.

The injury will come as a setback to Blundell, who has not been able to cement his place in the Blackcaps team in any format. He made his ODI debut last year against India and has played just two fifty over games for the men in black. 

“Obviously everyone is gutted for Tom, he’s a quality player with a diverse skill-set. He’ll remain with the squad and we’re hopeful he’ll be available again for the T20I series,” New Zealand coach Glenn Pocknall said.

In the five-match long T20 series that preceded New Zealand’s tour of Pakistan, Blundell struggled on pitches that assisted spinners in a big way and his highest score came in the fourth T20I of the series before facing the axe in the final game of the series.

Blundell is a wicketkeeper-batsman who also batted at the top for the Blackcaps in all formats. However, inconsistencies while opening has not allowed him proper chances from a highly impressive New Zealand side.

He has a run tally of mere 59 runs from seven appearances in the T20I format with the highest score of 30 coming in one innings. He has been able to muster only 31 runs from his two appearances in the ODI format and hence the upcoming ODI series against Pakistan could well have been a chance for him to get his batting on track.

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CPL 2021 | Final: Dominic Drakes steals last ball victory for Patriots

When Dominic Drakes was signed up by St Kitts and Nevis Patriots for Caribbean Premier League 2021, the management wouldn’t have imagined him winning a crucial match like the season finale, especially with bowlers of the stature of Sheldon Cottrell, Dwayne Bravo and international stars like Naseem Shah and Fawad Ahmed present in the side already. Well if this was hard to think, imagine how wild it would have been to think that the guy you signed up as a bowler, who has no hundreds or fifties to his credit in domestic cricket would go on to win you the most important game of your franchise history with the bat? But then what are victories if not for wildest dreams to come true. And St Kitts and Nevis realised their wildest dreams when Drakes hit the last ball of the final match down to the short fine leg and completed a single to win the first-ever CPL title for the Patriots in their seven-year journey of the league. Chasing a target of 160 set up by their St Lucia Kings, who were playing their second consecutive CPL final, having lost to Trinbago Knight Riders last year, the Patriots had a shaky start losing Chris Gayle in the very first over. While Roston Chase was responsible for the first dismissal, he single-handedly made it possible to get rid of in form Evin Lewis with a cracker of a catch at the boundary line. At 26-2, the Patriots looked in trouble chasing such a huge total. Soon, a 45 run partnership developed between wicket-keeper batter Joshua da Silva and Sherfane Rutherford. The Patriots’ chase seemed to be motoring along until both da Silva and Rutherford fell in quick succession with the men in black and green still needing 85 to get from 55 balls. It is at this instance that Drakes entered the arena. First with skipper Dwayne Bravo and then with spin bowling all-rounder Fabian Allen, Drakes stitched important partnerships to take Patriots to 139-5 with only 21 needed off the last 12 balls. However, Allen fell in the first ball of the 19th over and all the responsibility came on the shoulders of Drakes. The left-hander hit a six and took a single to give the strike to Sheldon Cotrell who too hit a four and even though he got out on the last ball of the over, got the Patriots in winning distance from the total. With nine needed off the last over and Drakes on strike, he was blacked to do it. Kesrick Williams, the Kings bowler though had other ideas as he kept the 23-year-old batter quiet for the first four balls. With five needed off the last two balls, Williams missed his full length by just a whisker and that was enough for Drakes to drive it past cover-mid-off for a four. A single on the last ball meant that Drakes was off the crease dancing and his teammates were out of the dog out, ready to pounce on him and celebrate. Earlier in the day, after winning the toss, St Lucia Kings decided to bat first. Their start was not as they expected as last game heroes Mark Deyal and Andre Fletcher fell in quick succession even as Rahkeem Cornwall ket firing at the other end. Chase provided some support to the opener, but after a 42 run stand was broken and Cornwall was out. Then, Chase and Tim David tried resurrecting the innings but hadn’t it been for Keemo Paul’s 39 off 21 balls, the Kings couldn’t have reached 159. Chase was the joint top scorer with 43 runs in the Kings innings alongside Cornwall. Overall Chase turned out to be the fin of the tournament as he scored 446 runs in 12 games and took 10 wickets as well. Receiving the Most Valuable Player of the Season award, the 29-year-old said, “Very thankful for this. My advice to youngsters is you always have more time than you think in T20s, so don't rush.” Drakes was awarded Man of the Match for his 48 runs and 1-38 with the ball.

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CPL 2021: Top 5 bowlers from the tournament

The St Kitts and Nevis Patriots were crowned the new champions of the Caribbean Premier League after they defeated Saint Lucia Kings in the final at St Kitts in a last-ball thriller. Chasing 160 in 20 overs, the Patriots rode on a fine piece of batting from Dominic Drakes who struck an unbeaten 48 off 24 that included three maximums and as many fours during the course. While the tournament saw a new team taking over the reign, it also witnessed some brilliant individual performances. Some of these individual contributions came from the bowlers as well where they single handedly turned the fortunes for their respective teams. Here we look at the top five bowlers from this season of the CPL. Ravi Rampaul (TKR) The right-arm medium fast bowler Ravi Rampaul tops this list as he unleashed some brilliant piece of bowling during the course of the tournament. The right-hander who plays for the Trinbago Knight Riders team CPL was capped 10 times in this edition and he scalped a total of 19 wickets at an average of just over 16 and bowled at an impressive economy rate of 7.96. Rampaul bagged one four-wicket haul and a couple of three-fors during the competition. His best figures of 4/29 came against Guyana Amazon Warriors. Trinbago though were eliminated from CPL 2021 after they suffered a defeat against Saint Lucia Kings in the semi-final. Romario Shepherd (GAW) Next in this list is Guyana Amazon Warriors’ fast bowler Romario Shepherd who played nine matches in this edition of the CPL and bagged a total of 18 wickets at a superb average of 14.11 and an economy rate of 7.69. The right-arm bowler picked up a three-wicket haul as many as five times in the tournament and his best bowling figures of 3/15 came against Trinbago Knight Riders in the initial stage of the season. He also notched up a half-century against the Jamaica Tallawahs team. Guyana lost the semi-final to Patriots and bowed out of the tournament. Odean Smith (GAW) The tally for the top five bowlers in CPL 2021 has another name from the Guyana Amazon Warriors side, Odean Smith who featured for the side in 11 matches. Smith scalped a total of 18 wickets at an average of 14.88 and at an economy of 7.54. Smith bagged a three-fer thrice in the competition while his individual best figures of 3/20 came against Jamaica Tallawahs. Dominic Drakes (SKNP) Left-handed medium pace bowler Dominic Drakes is the next bowler in this elite list. Drakes probably played a massive role in the Patriots' successful campaign in this edition of the CPL. The left-hander picked up a total of 16 wickets in 11 matches that he played at an average of 20.68 and an economy rate of 8.56 and made a vital contribution with the bat in the all important final. He remained unbeaten at 48 off 24 and anchored his side to a maiden title win. David Wiese (SLK) Saint Lucia Kings might have ended up at the losing end in the final of the CPL 2021 but David Wiese played a crucial role in getting the side to the title clash. The right-hander didn’t play much in the tournament but stamped his authority with the ball after returning with two five-wicket hauls in only five matches in which he was capped for the Kings. He picked up a total of 11 wickets at an average of 13.27. Wiese’s first fifer came against the Royals where he returned with the figures of 5/25 and the second one came against Trinabgo Knight Riders in the semi-final match. Wiese picked up 5 wickets at the cost of 39 runs in this match. The Saint Lucia Kings ended the CPL 2021 as the runners-up after suffering a defeat in the final against the Patriots. There is one name that wasn’t able to make it to the top five list but deserves all the appreciation. Barbados Royals’ Mohammad Amir had a decent time during the course of the tournament where he played 7 matches for the Royals and picked up 11 wickets at an average of 13.54. The most impressive aspect of his bowling was the economy rate of 6.12.

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IPL 2021 | Punjab Kings Road to UAE: It wasn’t smooth sailing but greater challenges lie ahead

The Punjab Kings started the 2021 IPL season with a change in name, hoping that it would bring a change in the fortune of the team as well. The team, which hadn’t tasted success since 2014 by remaining out of the top four thought that the change in the name would bring some change in the fortune too. However, that hasn’t been the case so far with the Kings winning only three of their eight games of IPL 2021. The journey so far The IPL 2021 started in a great way for the Kings when they defeated Rajasthan Royals in a close encounter by four runs. KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda were the heroes of the game for the team even as Saju Samson’s century almost won it for the Royals. In their second game, the Kings tasted defeat as they were decimated by the Chennai Super Kings when Deepak Chahar ran through the defences of the Punjab players. Post the Supekings humiliation, the Kings lost one more game in Mumbai where they were outdone by the Delhi Capitals, courtesy of a Shikhar Dhawan masterclass with the bat. From Mumbai, the caravan of the Kings moved to Chennai, but without much change in the fortunes as they once again folded for a low total against Sunrisers Hyderabad and were mauled by nine wickets. Just when it seemed that this season is going to be no different story for the Kings, having lost three back to back games, they sprang up a surprise and won against the defending champions Mumbai Indians. In the game against Mumbai, the bowlers were at their level best and so were the batsmen in skipper Rahul and experienced Chris Gayle. But in the very next game against the Kolkata Knight Riders, the same batsmen failed and it became very difficult to understand the trajectory of the Kings in the season. The difficulty only increased when they came back in the next game once again and beat the then table-toppers Royal Challengers Bangalore defending 179 and getting the opposition restricted to 145 in the 20 overs. In that game, a star was found in the form of Harpreet Brar for Punjab Kings who removed three greats AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli and Glen Maxwell in the very same game. However, in their last game in the India leg, Punjab Kings, who were thinking of getting a move on after a great win over RCB, were overhauled by Delhi capitals and Shikhar Dhawan once again. New signings: Blessing in disguise? The changes that Punjab Kings were forced to make for the UAE leg of the league might actually turn out to be a blessing in disguise. The two Aussie pacers in Riley Meredith and Jhye Richardson which they bought at hefty amounts for the first leg didn’t really prove their mettle much and hence signing an all-rounder Nathan Ellis and spinner Adil Rashid in their place makes a lot of sense. Dawid Malan’s unavailability is unfortunate as he looked in good touch. But the replacement Aiden Markram has been equally good and that too on spinning tracks in Sri Lanka, making it a great replacement. The fact that Markram can roll his arm over if needed, makes him an even better prospect at the top of the order. Final PBKS Squad Batsmen: Aiden Markram, KL Rahul (C&WK), Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran (WK), Prabsimran Singh, and Sarfaraz Khan. All-rounders: Chris Gayle, Darshan Nalkande, Deepak Hooda, Fabien Allen, Harpreet Brar, Jalaj Saxena, Moises Henriques, Saurabh Kumar, Shahrukh Khan, and Utkarsh Singh. Bowlers: Adil Rashid, Arshdeep Singh, Chris Jordan, Ishan Porel, Mohammed Shami, Murugan Ashwin, Nathan Ellis, and Ravi Bishnoi. What to expect in the UAE leg? With three wins from eight games, the Kings are currently sitting in the sixth position on the points table and the next six matches are as crucial as it gets for them to finally make it to the Playoffs of the IPL. To make the Playoffs, they would need their new foreign recruits as well as old ones, especially Nicholas Pooran, who has been in great form in the CPL 2021 to come good. They need at least four victories to come in the contention for a playoff spot and to win four out of six is not going to be easy. But then what is victory if it comes easy, cause it never has.