Records as a captain mean nothing to me or any other player: Virat Kohli

Déjà vu for Multan all over as Peshawar’s Haider Ali steals the show from Shahnawaz Dhani

Not once, but twice have Multan Sultans lost a game in the 19th over of the second innings, after dominating it for the most part. While they needed to defend 21 against Peshawar Zalmi tonight where they failed, they had also failed to defend 20 against Islamabad United on 21st February in a similar situation. The culprits on both occasions might have been different in name and deeds, but were similar in letting down the expectations of the captain and the team. Sohail Tanvir had conceded 19 in the 19th over against Islamabad to kill the game even before it went to the last over, tonight it was Shahnawaz Dhani. Dhani, a young man from Sindh was entrusted by skipper Mohammad Rizwan to defend 21 from the last two overs. It was expected that the 22-year-old who gave way just eight runs in his previous over and took two crucial wickets of dangermen Sherfane Rutherford and Tom Kohler Cadmore, would curtail the runs and leave more for senior pro, Sohail Tanvir to defend in the last over. Cadmore and Rutherford were taking the game away from Sultans with their seven ball 19 runs partnership. However, the plan turned on its head as Under-19 star Haider Ali smoked a six off the very first ball of the Dhani over to put the young fast bowler under pressure. Dhani then bowled a high bouncer, which threatened to go for four byes behind the wickets, if it wasn't for a great effort from skipper Rizwan with the gloves. Ali, who had also hit Carlos Brathwaite for 13 runs in the 18th over, transferred the responsibility of achieving the target to senior partner Shoaib Malik. Malik, 39, utilised his 20 years of experience and hit Dhani for a six over long-on off a length ball to kill the game. As if all this was not enough, Ali who came to the crease to face the last ball with four runs still required, tonked the overpitched delivery over extra cover to finish things in style with a six. The Attock born remained unbeaten on 25 off just eight balls, while Malik made 11 runs off five balls. While Ali was the show stealer, it was Cadmore who had actually made a game out of the contest for the Zalmi in the first place. The Yorkshire man scored a 32 ball 53 to keep Zalmi in the hunt, even as the required run-rate kept on mounting. He was supported well by Imam-Ul-Haq early on and then by Rutherford. Credit must also be given to Sultan fielders for missing chances in the field. While captain Rizwan missed a stumping chance when Cadmore failed to read a flipper from Shahid Afridi early on in the innings, Rilee Rossouw too let go of an easy run-out chance to dismiss the Englishman. Cadmore was awarded Man of the Match for his brilliant innings. The Zalmi started the run chase in a positive manner as Kamran Akmal counter attacked the Multan pacers and got Peshwar to a flyer. Zalmi had scored 57 in just 6.2 overs before Akmal was trapped by Usman Qadir before the wickets. Qadir turned out to be the most economical Multan bowler giving away just 29 runs in his four overs. Earlier in the evening, put into to bat after losing the toss, Sultans were given a jolt very early in their innings as Chris Lynn failed once again, getting caught in the slips off an outswinger from Mohammad Irfan. James Vince, who came to the crease after this wicket, turned out to be the game-changer for Sultans, scoring a brilliant 84 off 55 balls. He hit nine fours and three sixes in his innings. While he added 82 with Rizwan for the third wicket. Sohaib Maqsood got together with the Englishman to add another 71 off just 40 balls, helping the Multan total to reach 193 at the end of 20 overs. While Rizwan scored 41, Maqsood with the help of four fours and two sixes reached 36 in 21 balls before being removed by Saqib Mahmood. Mahmood was the pick of the bowlers for the Zalmi taking two wickets off his four overs after conceding 24 runs. This win at the National Stadium in Karachi was the first for Zalmi as the Sultans would remain winless heading into their third game on 26th February against Lahore Qalandars, who have won two in two.

Indian women’s team to play South Africa series in Lucknow

The Indian women’s cricket team will begin it’s post-lockdown cricket when they face South Africa women in a home series starting March. It has been revealed that Lucknow, the capital city of North Indian state Uttar Pradesh will host all eight matches in the newly built Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium. "It is true that the UPCA (Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association) has been allotted the women's series against South Africa and all the eight games will be played in Lucknow," Shreyans Kartikeya, UPCA's senior manager was quoted as saying to Cricbuzz. Although there is no official announcement, it is expected that the five ODIs will be played on March 7, 10, 12, 14 and 17 respectively. For the T20Is, the dates could be March 20, 22 and 24. The dates are likely to be confirmed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India very soon. Before UPCA, Kerala Cricket Association was offered to host the matches, but it declined the offer citing logistical problems.

PSL 6: Formidable Kings up against challenging Islamabad for early-season bragging rights clash

The Karachi Kings started their season in a brilliant fashion humiliating Quetta Gladiators by seven wickets with more than 37 balls remaining. In their second game, they will be up against an Islamabad United side which proved Pundits wrong to win a game from being seven wickets down and still needing 34 runs off the last four overs. In this game, the two teams, one supremely talented on paper and one gritty to the core will battle it out for early-season bragging rights. This game is also interesting in the sense that Babar Azam, the current skipper of the Pakistan national t20 side will be up against a probable contender for that post in Shadab Khan, the skipper of Islamabad United. Kings look to continue the winning momentum Babar, the prominent stars of Kings hasn’t been in a good nick for quite some time. He failed big time against South Africa in both the limited-overs as well as the Tests, not being able to score even a single hundred in seven innings. Apart from his form, the team looks impeccable with both bowlers and batsmen firing in tandem. Sharjeel Khan is another concern. But looking at his form in the domestic circuit off late, sooner or later he will be the vintage Sharjeel who takes the bowlers to cleaners with the sword in his hand. All eyes would also be on all-rounder Arshad Iqbal who was supremely good with the ball, picking three wickets in the lat game. United to go for course correction in batting Hussain Talat, Asif Ali and Phil Salt, the batsmen who are looked up to by their team to give them a quick and formidable start. Alex Hales was still good and was done by a quick flipper Shahid Afridi. But it is these batsmen along with skipper Shadab himself who need to get going if United are to challenge the might of the Karachi team. Lewis Gregory is a big plus point for the United, being effective both the bat and ball. He needs to bat a bit up the order to be able to fully utilise the deliveries. Apart from their batting, Islamabad also needs to give more overs to Zafar Gohar if they are playing him as a bowling all-rounder. The left-arm spinner bowled only a single over in the last game. Karachi Kings vs Islamabad United: Match Details Match Number- 06 Venue- National Stadium, Karachi Date and Time: 24th February, 07:30 pm IST, 07:00 pm Local, 02:00 pm GMT Broadcast and Live Stream: Sony Ten and Sony LIV Pitch Report In the last five games, three different pitches have been used and all of them have been true wickets, offering plenty of runs to the batsmen if they are able to time the ball, as was exemplified by Mohammad Hafeez in the Quetta vs Lahore match. If bowlers are able to pitch the ball in the right areas, they too are getting the purchase off the wicket. This match would most likely have a new pitch as well. But it would also most likely be a true wicket, a feature of the National Stadium at Karachi. Weather and Toss The Karachi weather seems to have no surprises for guessing as clear skies will be the order of the day. Just like clear skies, dew will also remain a constant forcing skippers to take the field after winning the toss. Probable XIs Karachi Kings Babar Azam, Sharjeel Khan, Joe Clarke (wk), Colin Ingram, Mohammad Nabi, Daniel Christian, Imad Wasim (c), Aamer Yamin, Mohammad Amir, Waqas Maqsood, Arshad Iqbal Islamabad United Alex Hales, Philip Salt (wk), Shadab Khan (c), Hussain Talat, Asif Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Lewis Gregory, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Zafar Gohar, Mohammad Wasim Jr Dream XI / Fantasy XI Alex Hales (vc), Babar Azam (c), Joe Clarke (wk), Asif Ali, Mohammad Nabi, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Arshad Iqbal, Mohammad Amir, Waqas Maqsood

The Hundred: A look at the complete squad of competing teams

The Hundred, one of the most exciting upcoming short-format leagues of cricket has been finally completed. The likes of Kieron Pollard, Nicholas Pooran and Jhye Richardson have been picked by various teams. Most of the teams except Birmingham Phoenix and Manchester Originals had their squads filled. So most of the buys were done by these two teams in the player draft that took place on 22nd February. Each team can have a maximum of 15 players with a maximum of three foreign imports permitted for each team. Till now, not all players' name picked in the draft has been released. The Hundred will keep on updating the players' list throughout the day. The start of 'The Hundred' is scheduled for 21st July when the women's teams of Oval Invincibles and Manchester Originals will take on each other at Kia Oval. "The men get going a day later," confirmed The Hundred website. Here is a look at the Men’s Squad of various teams as of now. Northern Superchargers Ben Stokes, Aaron Finch, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Chris Lynn, Adil Rashid, Adam Lyth, David Willey, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Brydon Carse, John Simpson, Olly Stone, Matty Potts, Matthew Fisher, Harry Brook, Callum Parkinson Birmingham Phoenix Moeen Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Henry Brookes, Pat Brown, Chris Cooke, Tom Helm, Adam Hose, Benny Howel, Liam Livingstone, Dominic Sibley, Chris Woakes, Adam Zampa London Spirit Eoin Morgan, Mohammad Amir, Mason Crane, Zak Crawley, Joe Denly, Jade Dernbach, Dan Lawrence, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammad Nabi, Luis Reece, Adam Rossington, Roelof Van Der Merwe, Mark Wood Manchester Originals Colin Ackerman, Jos Buttler, Joe Clarke, Steven Finn, Richard Gleeson, Harry Gurney, Tom Hartley, Shadab Khan, Tom Lammonby, Wayne Madsen, Jamie Overton, Matt Parkinson, Nicholas Pooran, Kagiso Rbada, Phil Salt Oval Invincibles Sam Billings, Alex Blake, Rory Burns, SamCurran, Tom Curran, Laurie Evans, Will Jacks, Sandeep Lamichhane, Sunil Narine, Jason Roy, Nathan Sowter, Reece Topley Southern Brave Jofra Archer, Alex Davies, Liam Dawson, George Garton, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Craig Overton, Delray Rawlins, Andre Russell, Marcus Stoinis, James Vince, Max Waller, Ross Whiteley Trent Rockets Lewis Gregory, Matthew Carter, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Ben Cox, Alex Hales, Rashid Khan, Dawid Malan, Tom Moores, Steven Mullaney, Joe Root, D’Arcy Short, Luke Wood, Luke Wright Welsh Fire Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Tom Banton, Qais Ahmed, Josh Cobb, Ian Cockbain, Matthew Critchley, Ben Duckett, Rayan Higgins, David Lloyd, David Payne, Liam Plunkett, Kieron Pollard, Ollie Pope, Jhye Richardson