Shahid Afridi traded to Quetta Gladiators for his final PSL season

Women Challenger Trophy 2021: India A women beat India D women in final

India A women’s team clinched the Women Challenger trophy after beating India D in the final on Thursday in Vijayawada. Chasing 220 in 50 overs, the INDWA team went over the line by 3 wickets and with more than four overs to spare. They lost a couple of early wickets and were reduced to 30/2 before Challa Jhansi Lakshmi and Yastika Bhatia joined hands and put up a stand of 95 runs for the third wicket before Lakshmi was out for 64. Bhatia though continued with her good batting. She did lose partners at the other end before getting out herself eventually for 86 leaving her side in a spot of bother at 201/7. But Sushree Dibyadarshini’s unbeaten 17 off 25 helped the side to win the match. Rajeshwari Gayakwad picked up four wickets for her side. Earlier, batting first, the INDWD side too began the proceedings well but lost momentum in the middle overs to get reduced to 140/6 and eventually get restricted to 219/8 in 50 overs. Amanjot Kaur was the pick of the batters after she scored an unbeaten fifty for the side. Disha Kasat returned with three wickets for 39 runs in 8 overs for INDWA.

Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021-22: Venkatesh Iyer's all-round show gets Madhya Pradesh back on track

The second of the Vijay Hazare Trophy witnessed some exciting performances on the day. While Venkatesh Iyer’s all-round show handed Madhya Pradesh a convincing win, Ruturaj Gaikwad continued his form and notched up yet another ton. Venkatesh Iyer’s all-round show Madhya Pradesh rode on a brilliant all-round show for Venkatesh Iyer to get back on track as they defeated Kerala by 40 runs on Thursday in Rajkot. Batting first, Madhya Pradesh posted 329/9 after Iyer notched up 112 in 84 deliveries while Shubham Sharma struck a 67-ball 82 during the course. Later, Puneet Datey and Iyer shared seven out of the ten wickets that went down to bowl the opponents out for 289. Rohan Kunnummal and Sachin Baby scored individual fifties but their efforts weren’t really enough to get the team over the line. Ruturaj Gaikwad notches up another hundred Maharashtra captain Ruturaj Gaikwad has been in different form and he unleashed another batting masterclass against Chhattisgarh in Rajkot. Chasing 276, Gaikwad played a match-winning knock and remained unbeaten at 154 off 143 including five maximums during the course. Apart from him, Yash Nahar also struck a fifty as Maharashtra went over the line in 47 overs and by 8 wickets. Earlier, Mukesh Choudhary picked up four wickets but Chhattisgarh put 275/7 in 50 overs, courtesy fifties from Amandeep Khare and Shashank Singh. Tamil Nadu thump Karnataka Siddharth and Sai Kishore ripped through Karnataka’s batting line up to bundle them out for 122. The two bowlers shared seven wickets among themselves. For Karnataka, it was only Rohan Kadam and Manish Pandey who got into the double-figure. Pandey top-scored with 40 off 54 balls. Later, Tamil Nadu lost a couple of wickets but Baba Indrajith and Washington Sundar made sure that there were no further loss of wickets as the side chased down the target by 8 wickets and in 28 overs. Indrajith struck a fifty during the chase. Close encounter between Bihar and Meghalaya Bihar and Meghalaya were involved in a close encounter where the latter stole a win by just 1 run in Jaipur. Batting first Meghalaya scored 273/6 in 50 overs after opener Khuaran notched up a century while captain Puneet Bisht scored 75. Later, Bihar had a good start as they were 74/2 in 18th over but the fall of the second wicket saw wickets going down at regular intervals and they were eventually bowled out for 272 despite Sakibul Gani’s 70-ball 94 and lost the match by 1 run. Other results Rajasthan beat Goa by 84 runs Punjab beat Railways by 3 wickets Services beat Assam by 4 wickets Uttarakhand beat Chandigarh by 3 wickets Nagaland beat Arunachal Pradesh by 5 wickets Sikkim beat Mizoram by 4 wickets Tripura beat Manipur by 86 runs Saurashtra beat Haryana by 5 wickets Odisha beat Gujarat by 3 wickets Vidarbha beat Andhra by 8 wickets Himachal Pradesh beat J&K by 63 runs Mumbai beat Baroda by 13 runs (VJD Method) Puducherry beat Bengal by 8 wickets (VJD Method) Haryana beat Delhi by 79 runs Jharkhand beat Uttar Pradesh by 8 wickets

Selectors felt it wasn't correct to have two captains in white-ball format: Sourav Ganguly

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly has opened up about Virat Kohli’s sacking from the ODI captaincy. Ganguly while talking to ANI said that the board initially didn’t ask to leave the T20I captaincy but he eventually stepped down. The selectors then felt that it wasnt right to have two white-ball captains. “BCCI had requested Virat Kohli to not step down as the T20I skipper but he didint agree - and selectors then feel it's not right to have two captains in white ball format,” Ganguly told ANI. More to follow...

BBL 2021-22: On a bowlers day out, Adelaide Strikers script comprehensive win over Melbourne Renegades

Adelaide Strikers rode on some exceptional bowling to clinch a 49-run win against Melbourne Renegades on Thursday in Adelaide. Chasing a target of 149 in 20 overs, the Renegades were bundled out for 100 in the 19th over. They had a decent start to the chase after Sam Harper and Mackenzie Harvey had put in 39 for the first wicket before the latter was run out for 19 off 12. Harvey’s dismissal certainly broke the shackles and Melbourne Renegades began to lose wickets at regular intervals only to be left tottering at 85/7 and eventually get bowled out. The Melbourne side witnessed a middle-order collapse as the Strikers’ bowlers didn’t really let them get back on track. Wes Agar returned with figures of 3/17 in three overs while Rashid Khan and Daniel Worrall had a couple of wickets apiece to their names. George Garton and Peter Siddle also scalped one wicket each during the course. Earlier, the Adelaide Strikers managed to score 149 in 10 overs before being all out after Kane Richardson bagged a four-wicket haul while Topley picked a three-for for the side. Wells top-scored for Strikers with a 30-ball 37. The player of the match Agar lauded the side for the bowling efforts and admitted that the bowling unit had the confidence of defending the total. “We are bowling well at the moment, and we were pretty good with our change ups, especially against Harper. It's a matter of putting the pressure on and we do have a good bowling line up that is capable of doing that. We knew we could defend the total, we had the confidence, it was just a matter of getting that energy level up. The main thing is to keep things simple, I think I bowl well when I don't complicate things,” he said after the match. Strikers will now play Perth Scorchers on Saturday in Perth while the Renegades will lock horns with Brisbane Heat in Queensland on Monday.