T10 League 2021-22: Team Abu Dhabi march ahead with easy win against Bangla Tigers

Multan Sultans to lock horns with Karachi Kings in PSL 2022 opener

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has released the schedule for the next edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The PSL 2022 will commence on January 27 with Karachi Kings taking on Multan Sultans in the first match of the tournament in Karachi. The knockout matches are scheduled to take place on February 23, 24 and 25 respectively while the title clash will take place on February 27 in Lahore. The PSL Draft 2022 will take place on December 12 at the High Performance Centre in Lahore. “Each side will come to the draft with a maximum of eight player retentions from the last event. Following the finalisation of player categories, the transfer and retention window is now officially open and will close on 10 December,” the PCB said in a statement. “In the Platinum Category, Lahore Qalandars will have the first pick, followed by Multan Sultans, Karachi Kings, Islamabad United, Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators. Lahore Qalandars will have the first pick in the Diamond Category, followed by Peshawar Zalmi, Islamabad United, Quetta Gladiators, Karachi Kings and Multan Sultans,” it added. The new PCB chairman Ramiz Raja expressed delight at the announcement of the schedule for PSL 2022. “I am delighted that the HBL PSL 7 schedule has been announced. This will now get the ball rolling with the teams to start planning and finalising their line-ups.”

'Emotional' Mickey Arthur lauds Sri Lankan team as his coaching tenure concludes

The Sri Lankan team presented a perfect farewell gift for the outgoing coach Mickey Arthur as they clinched a two-match Test series against West Indies 2-0 at home. An emotional Arthur has said that the Sri Lankan team comprises some “remarkable” characters in the dressing room and he would miss being around them. "I'm going to get really emotional tonight, when we eventually say farewell, because the characters who are in that dressing room are remarkable. They're really a wonderful bunch of players and people," Arthur said. The coach also lavished praise on Ramesh Mendis and added that he has made an impression. "One thing Mendis does is he spins the ball really big. We've just had to work on him being really consistent with his lines and with his lengths,” Arthur said. “I was just sitting next to Grant Flower (batting coach) out there and we were watching the guys out in the field. And I was saying, which guys have really made an impression on you? For both of us it was Ramesh Mendis," he added. Talking about the series, the home side won the first match by 187 runs and then clinched a victory by 164 runs in the second to complete a whitewash win.

T10 League 2021-22: Deccan Gladiators register place in final with win over Delhi Bulls

Deccan Gladiators registered a place in the final of the T10 League after beating Delhi Bulls in Qualifier 1 in Abu Dhabi on Friday. Chasing 140 in 10 overs, the Delhi Bulls team was looking pretty steady in the run chase but a good piece of bowling at the end from Tymal Mills pushed them on the back foot. Openers Gurbaz and Chandrapaul Hemraj had put 36 on the board for the first wicket. The Bulls did lose wickets at regular intervals but the batsmen continued to put up runs on the board before the 8th over where they could only manage to get 6 runs and the asking rate jumped massively. Later, they needed 34 off the final over but could only score 16 to eventually be restricted to 122/5 and suffer a defeat by 17 runs. Earlier, riding on some brisk stroke play from Russell, David Wiese and Odean Smith, the Gladiators posted 139/4 in 10 overs. While Russell struck 39 off 14, Wiese remained unbeaten at 15-ball 31. Smith also returned not out for 30 off 11. For Delhi Bulls, it was once again Dominic Drakes who was the pick of the bowlers after he returned with figures of 3/15 in 2 overs. Delhi will now meet the winner of the Eliminator match in the second qualifier to fight it out for a place in the final.

Indian team faces backlash on social media as 'injured' Rahane carries drink to the ground

India Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane was ruled out of the second match against New Zealand in Mumbai after an apparent hamstring injury. But the fans were left wondering when Rahane was seen carrying drinks during the break on the field. The Indian team was called out by the netizens for the same on Friday, 3 December. Rahane's position in the Test team has been contentious for some time now, with critics stating that the Indian vice-captain has not done enough to get selected over the likes of KL Rahul in the middle order. With Shreyas Iyer scoring a century in the Kanpur Test, theories were flying as to who would get the sack once captain Virat Kohli comes back into the team. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) tweeted in the morning of Day 1 of the 2nd Test that Rahane had suffered a hamstring and would be unavailable for the game. Talking about the match, the hosts are in a decent position at the moment, courtesy, a century from opener Mayank Agarwal. India had begun the proceedings pretty well after Mayank and Shubman Gill put up 80 runs on the board for the first wicket before Ajaz Patel removed Gill for 44. The spinner then followed it with the scalps of Cheteshwar Pujara and captain Virat Kohli as the home side was reduced to 80/3. Agarwal was then joined by Shreyas Iyer in the middle and the two batters then steadied the ship for the team and chipped in with an 80-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Iyer was eventually sent back to the pavilion as Patel scalped his fourth wicket of the day. But Mayank along with Wriddhiman Saha made sure that there were no further fall of wickets as India ended the day’s play at 221/4. Agarwal was unbeaten at 120 while Saha was at 25* when the stumps were called. The first match of the two-match series ended in a draw in Kanpur earlier.