All-rounder Dwayne Bravo wrote his own piece of history, while Praveen Tambe became the first Indian cricketer to play in the Hero Caribbean Premier League as Trinbago Knight Riders posted their fourth straight win, beating St Lucia Zouks by six wickets via D/L method in a rain-truncated match, in Port of Spain on Wednesday.
West Indies have dropped batsman Lendl Simmons from their Twenty20 World Cup squad owing to a back injury, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) said on Saturday. "The 31-year-old right-handed top-order batsman will remain in Trinidad to continue his rehabilitation," the WICB said. "A replacement player will be named in the coming days," it said in a statement. Simmons, who has played 34 T20Is with a top score of 77, joins all-rounder Kieron Pollard on the sidelines after a knee injury forced him to decline signing a player contract for the tournament in India. Spinner Sunil Narine, who is still working to fix his illegal bowling action, and Darren Bravo, who has opted to focus on the longer formats of cricket, withdrew from the West Indies squad last month.
West Indies captain Jason Holder praised his team's effort in the do-or-die clash against United Arab Emirates on Sunday and will next look to target the batting of likely World Cup quarter-final opponents New Zealand in Wellington next week.
The West Indies ended their dismal tour of Sri Lanka with a consolation victory after Dwayne Bravo's all-round brilliance secured a series-levelling 23-run win in the second and final Twenty20 International on Wednesday.
Throughout the World Twenty20 championship, he was in good flow with the bat and Kohli the bowler also resurfaced when it mattered.
Sri Lanka beat West Indies by 30 runs in the first Twenty20 International on Monday to go 1-0 up in the two-match series and extend the visitors' losing streak.
Senior batsman Ramnarseh Sarwan has been dropped from the 13-member West Indies cricket squad for the first three matches of their ODI tri-series against India and Sri Lanka starting June 28.
Uncapped Evin Lewis has been named to replace the injured Lendl Simmons in the West Indies squad for the World Twenty20 in India. The experienced Simmons was ruled out of the tournament due to a back injury. "The 24-year-old left-handed batsman will join the team ahead of the start of the global event," the West Indies Cricket Board said in a statement. Lewis has represented Trinidad & Tobago in the Caribbean T20 and the Champions League and impressed chairman of selectors Clive Lloyd, who led West Indies to two 50-over World Cup triumphs. "Evin Lewis a young and exciting batsman who we believe he will fit into the team set-up very well. He has the ability to perform at this level of the game," Lloyd said. "His selection is in keeping with our policy to give exposure to young, talented players we believe will help to carry West Indies cricket forward," he added. All-rounder Kieron Pollard was ruled out of the World Twenty20 due to a knee injury, spinner Sunil Narine is still working to fix his illegal bowling and all-rounder Darren Bravo has opted to focus on the longer formats of the game.
India's star batsman Virat Kohli has maintained his No 1 position in the ICC T20 batsmen rankings and so have India in the team charts after the conclusion of the World T20.
Every person was tested 72 hours before they travelled in order to ensure that all members of the party were travelling virus free.
Photos of the Pool B game between West Indies and United Arab Emirates being played in Napier
Australia, the World's No. 1 One-Day International side, need to work on a number of aspects to improve ahead of next year's ICC Champions Trophy, captain Steve Smith said after they won a triangular series win in the West Indies.
Facts and figures for the World Twenty20 final between England and West Indies at Eden Gardens on Sunday: World T20 head-to-head: Played: 4 - West Indies wins 4, England wins 0 All T20 head-to-head: Played: 13 - West Indies wins 9; England wins 4
Following is a factbox on the second World Twenty20 semi-final between West Indies and India to be played at the Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai, on Thursday.
A Kieron Pollard heist for the ages saw the Trinbago Knight Riders rescue a seemingly impossible win against the Barbados Tridents, showing the rest of Hero Caribbean Premier League that not only can they win without Sunil Narine, they can do it without DJ Bravo.
West Indies thrashed New Zealand by 203 runs in the fifth and final one-day international at Seddon Park, Hamilton on Wednesday to draw the series 2-2.
The sight of a West Indian batsman stealing a cheeky single is a rarity in international cricket but skipper Darren Sammy does not mind as long as the fours and the sixes keep flowing from their bats. The Caribbean side flexed their batting muscle to storm into the World Twenty20 final against England who they beat in a group stage match in Mumbai. Sammy is aware of the criticism of his team's poor strike rotation but believes the power-hitters can more than make up with big shots. "People say we don't rotate our strike well, we'll talk about that but first thing is you have to stop us from hitting boundaries that has been difficult for oppositions once we get in that swing," the ever-smiling all-rounder told reporters on Saturday. The semi-final against India illustrated Sammy's point.
Andre Fletcher produced a blinder of an innings, smashing 84 runs off only 64 balls, to power the West Indies to a comprehensive seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru, on Sunday.
Misbah-ul-Haq produced a crucial captain's innings to steer Pakistan to a four-wicket win over West Indies in the fifth One-day international in St. Lucia on Wednesday and secure the series 3-1.
Sri Lanka paceman Suranga Lakmal took three quick wickets before Tillakaratne Dilshan smashed a 32-ball 59 to lead Sri Lanka to a tense one-wicket win in a rain-curtailed first one-dayer against West Indies.
The leg-spinner is first South African to claim seven wickets in an ODI and became the fastest Proteas bowler to reach 100 ODI wickets in 58 matches -- the fourth quickest overall.
Rival openers Evin Lewis of the West Indies and India's Lokesh Rahul have made huge gains in the latest ICC Players Rankings for T20I Batsmen after slamming fine centuries in the recent two-match series in Lauderhill, USA, played on 27 and 28 August. The first match, in which a T20I record aggregate of 489 runs were scored, saw Lewis slam a 49-ball 100 in the West Indies' total of 245 for six that has helped him move up 288 slots to reach 51st rank.
Spinners Nathan Lyon and Adam Zampa tore through the West Indies batting line-up to set up a dominant Australian victory by six wickets in the second match of a triangular one-day international series in Guyana on Sunday.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni failed to finish off the match and was dismissed off the final delivery with just two runs needed for victory as India went down by one run in a thrilling finish in the first T20 International against West Indies in Florida, on Saturday.
The 2016 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) Player Draft was held in Barbados on Thursday, with the six franchises flexed their financial muscles to rope in their desired cricketers.
Half-brothers Darren and Dwayne Bravo provided the foundation for success as West Indies beat Pakistan by 37 runs on Tuesday to win the second One-Day International in Guyana and tie the five-match series.
Babar Azam hit his maiden century while spinner Mohammad Nawaz grabbed four wickets as Pakistan thrashed the West Indies by 111 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method in the first day-night international on Friday. Azam's rapid-fire 139-ball 120 helped Pakistan post a challenging 284-9 in a match reduced to 49 overs a side due to a 70-minute floodlight failure at Sharjah Stadium in the UAE. West Indies -- set 287 to win -- never got close and folded at 175 in 38.4 overs.
Stand-in skipper Virat Kohli said he was forced to keep an attacking field against the West Indies in Sunday's tri-series match as he needed wickets to defend a modest score of 230 at Sabina Park.
'I don't think there's anything that we did wrong. It was just some fantastic hitting in the last over.'
Lendl Simmons was a late replacement, but he led a charmed life to blast an unbeaten 82 and carry the West Indies to a thrilling seven-wicket victory over India in the second semi-final of the World Twenty20, the Wankhede Stadiumin Mumbai, on Thursday.
Rohit Sharma smashed a scintillating 98 not out at his favourite Eden Gardens as India scored a comprehensive 45-run win over the West Indies in their World T20 warm-up match.
Darren Sammy, who led the West Indies to their second World T20 title in India recently has been bestowed with a special honour with the cricket ground in his home country St Lucia to be renamed after him. St Lucia Prime Minister Kenny Anthony announced that Beausejour Stadium will be renamed Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium after the Windies captain led his team to glory in thrilling fashion in the World T20 final against England on Sunday night. Sammy is the first international cricketer to emerge from the island nation, having first represented West Indies in ODI cricket in 2004, and has gone on to captain his country in all three formats.
Johnson Charles and Jonathan Carter scored half centuries as West Indies kept alive their hopes of securing a World Cup quarter-finals berth with a six-wicket victory over United Arab Emirates at McLean Park in Napier on Sunday.
High on confidence after their emphatic victory over England, the West Indies will once again look for an explosive knock from Chris Gayle to inch closer to a semi-final berth when they take on defending champions Sri Lanka in a World Twenty20 Super 10 Group 1 match in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Marlon Samuels' unbeaten century proved in vain as Sri Lanka beat West Indies by 19 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method to complete a 3-0 one-day series whitewash on Saturday.
The struggling West Indies cricket team has been dealt a couple of injury blows in its ongoing tour of India with pacer Kemar Roach ruled out of the remainder of the trip and all-rounder Kieron Pollard rendered unavailable for the ODI series.
Virat Kohli produced yet another masterclass as he smashed an unbeaten 47-ball 89 to guide India to a challenging 192 for two. against West Indies in the second semifinal of the ICC World Twenty20 in Mumbai on Thursday.
India thrashed New Zealand by 53 runs to give veteran fast bowler Ashish Nehra a winning farewell, in the first Twenty20 International in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Shikhar Dhawan set the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur alight as India beat the West Indies by five wickets in the final One-day International and clinched the three-match series 2-1 on Wednesday. After the home side restricted the visitors to 263 for 5, the dashing opener scored a breezy 119 off 95 deliveries to overhaul the target with 23 balls to spare.
A hard-hitting 92 by Marlon Samuels, which included three consecutive sixes in the 42nd over, helped lift West Indies to a four-wicket over Australia in the fifth game of a triangular one-day international (ODI) series in St Kitts on Monday.