Captain Rohit Sharma led from the front with a sparkling 84 not out as an inspired Mumbai Indians cruised to a six-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders to open their account in the ninth season of Indian Premier League in Kolkata, on Wednesday.
A fine all-round bowling display saw Trinbago Knight Riders win the battle of the unbeaten teams and go to the top of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) table. Glenn Phillips was the only standout for the Jamaica Tallawahs as the power-hitters struggled for fluency, and Sunil Narine's second consecutive 50 did the bulk of the work even as the Knight Riders took their time about the chase.
Riding on half-centuries from their openers Mike Hussey and Lendl Simmons followed by excellent performance from their spinners helped Mumbai post a comfortable 25-run victory over Rajasthan Royals in a one-sided Indian Premier League encounter in Ahmedabad.
Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma was well aware of Shardul Thakur's range of shots as he wanted Lasith Malinga to bowl a slower delivery which turned out to be a masterstroke at the end of a thrilling IPL final.
'(We) knew the chase wasn't going to be easy. Hopefully we can learn from these mistakes'
Royal Challengers Bangalore's West Indies leg-spinner Samuel Badree claimed his first Indian Premier League hat-trick on his debut against the Mumbai Indians, taking the wickets of Parthiv Patel, Mitch McClenaghan and Rohit Sharma on Friday.
West Indies head into World Cup with little or no expectations of success.
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.
Chris Gayle accused the West Indies Cricket Board of victimisation after key all-rounders Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard were left out of the country's World Cup squad.
Hardik Pandya staged a late assault to help Mumbai Indians pull off a thrilling four-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders for their first win in the Indian Premier League in Mumbai, on Sunday.
The celebrated duo of head coach Ricky Ponting and mentor Sourav Ganguly has managed to instill belief in the team members and that is visible on the field. The team now seems to believe that it can win the title after a long spell as the perennial underachiever of the competition.
RCB have been inconsistent in their first six games in IPL-12, with both their bowling and batting faltering on many occasions.
West Indies captain believes his team can take on India
The hullabaloo over his hamstring was confusing as well as amusing for Rohit Sharma, who says he always knew that the injury was not that serious and he would be battle-ready for the tour of Australia.
'Cricket in general is played at a pace below what it needs to be. Cricket needs to be speeded up in all forms of the game. If it puts pressure on captains and bowlers, so be it. We need to ask captains and bowlers to be a little bit surer in their plans'
'It is not foreign to have two left-handers in the team. Australia have not done it a lot in the past but I don't see why we can't do that. Mitch bowls exceptionally well at the death, can also bowl at the middle and upfront. So, it might be a case if both of us are picked in the same team we can have different roles'
Mumbai Indians all-rounder Hardik Pandya termed the last seven months the toughest of his life and dedicated the award-winning performance in the IPL match against Chennai Super Kings to those who stood by him.
KXIP are riding a roller-coaster ride, having to endure a controversy involving their captain Ravichandran Ashwin who 'Mankaded' Rajasthan Royals batsman Jos Buttler in their first match, an act which was legal but criticised by some as against the 'Spirit of Cricket'.
An umpiring howler off the last delivery cost Royal Challengers Bangalore dearly as Mumbai Indians beat the hosts by six runs, largely due to Jasprit Bumrah's brilliant spell at the death, in Thursday's IPL encounter in Bengaluru.
Terming the controversial pull-out by West Indies midway their India tour as "unacceptable", the ICC has warned players against taking contractual matters into their own hands and hinted that they could be penalized by disallowing them to play in domestic tournaments like IPL if they repeat such acts in future.
'It's always good to get 40-50 extra and we want to bat the opposition out of the game. Rohit and KL were outstanding, the opening partnership set it up. Shreyas and Rishabh, the way they played, was outstanding'
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.
Pakistan wrapped up their tour of the West Indies with an 11-run win in the second Twenty20 international in St Vincent on Sunday to complete a One-day double over the world T20 champions.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list IPL 2020's 50 Most Valuable Players up to Game 52.
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.
'I think we were good for the first 16 overs while batting when we were 140 for 4. But then in the last four overs, we should have got 40 to 45 runs, and we got only thirty. We need to focus on that'
IMAGES from the 2nd T20 International played between India and West Indies in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list IPL 2020's 50 Most Valuable Players up to Game 41.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list IPL 2020's 50 Most Valuable Players up to Game 34.
The odds are in favour of table toppers Kolkata Knight Riders as they square off against defending champions Mumbai Indians, experiencing a campaign that is oscillating between high and low, in a potentially exciting Indian Premier League contest in Mumbai, on Thursday.
High on confidence after their fourth consecutive victory, Mumbai Indians will look to extend their winning run and sneak into the top-four when they lock horns with table-toppers Chennai Super Kings in an Indian Premier League match at the Chepauk on Friday.
Mumbai Indians will look to extend their winning run and sneak into the top-four.
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.
Imran Tahir needed less than 12 deliveries to highlight the folly of his rejection at the Indian Premier League auction in February when the leg-spinner set up Pune's thrilling victory in their IPL opener against Mumbai on Thursday.
It will not be the first time that the competition has had to be held outside India.
Mumbai Indians have a 10-5 record against KKR. Can they maintain the advantage?
A recurring back injury will certainly keep Chris Gayle out of the upcoming home Test series against England, but the destructive West Indies batsman insists that he is not retiring from any format of the game.
Chris Gayle was not at his brutal best in the IPL but Andre Russell's butchering of the bowlers has forced the teams to take note of what could await them at the World Cup.
Hosts Kolkata Knight Riders run the risk of slipping away when they face resurgent defending champions and 'nemesis' Mumbai Indians in an IPL clash, in Kolkata, on Wednesday.
Former India pacer Ajit Agarkar blamed the Mumbai Indians' middle order for the defending champions' poor show in the ongoing Indian Premier League.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances