Unfortunately, the day chosen for the match was the actual day of Diwali and cricket starved Houstonians were in a dilemma about staying home with family and friends or going to watch their back-in-action cricket heroes.
The ICC Cricket Committee chaired by India's head coach Anil Kumble made a host of recommendations at its annual meeting with the notable ones being the use of DRS for all T20 Internationals.
With a new captain in place, Rising Pune Supergiants would look to make amends for a poor last season but have a tough opening battle at hand against two-time former champions Mumbai Indians.
Hamstrung, running out of partners and his team's title defence at stake -- the stage was set for Angelo Mathews to emerge from the Saturday night drizzle and enter Twenty20 folklore but the Sri Lankan captain fell agonisingly short. At 15-4, after England had set them a 172-run victory target in the World Twenty20 match, Sri Lanka's title defence looked all but over inside three overs. Their skipper then engineered a stunning recovery in the tournament's most portentous contest that was key to the semi-final hopes of three teams, including South Africa. But the lion-hearted effort took its toll on his hamstring and Mathews was clearly struggling when he took guard for the final over from Ben Stokes -- 15 runs separating him from Twenty20 greatness and his team from a place in the last four. As a mild drizzle fell on the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, Stokes charged in with a ball in hand and ice in veins to thwart Mathews' audacious bid to pull off a heist.
Lost in transition, defending champions Sri Lanka will look to come out of the rut and start well against a spirited Afghanistan in their World Twenty20 Super 10 opener at Eden Gardens on Thursday. The defending champions, who were also runners-up in 2009 and 2012, have managed to win only four of their 14 matches since they beat India to win the 2014 edition in Mirpur. They are in the middle of a transition phase after Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene's exit. The build-up to the tournament was also forgettable with series defeats in New Zealand and India followed by an early ouster in Asia Cup. To add to the misery, their 2014 WT20 winning skipper Lasith Malinga has stepped down as leader of the team, following concern over his slow recovery from a knee injury. Now Test and ODI skipper Angelo Mathews' task is cutout. Having joined the squad on Tuesday, Malinga is a doubtful starter for the match. His presence in the team would impact the team a lot.
Statistical highlights on the fifth and final day of the opening Test match between India and Sri Lanka, in Kolkata, on Monday.
Should the non-performers in IPL's UAE leg be axed?
Tillikaratane Dilshan eased to his 19th One-day International century to anchor his side to a six-wicket victory over New Zealand in the second game of their seven-match series at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Thursday.
Delhi Daredevils skipper Mahela Jayawardene said they will have to "move on" after enduring a tough Indian Premier League season during which they finished at the bottom of the table.
Stuart Broad became the first England player to bag two Test hat-tricks and Liam Plunkett claimed his maiden five-wicket haul as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 257 on the opening day of the second Test.
Ganguly said he's definitely interested in the India coach's job but not at the moment as his plate is full.
India's quest for a historic treble ended in heartbreak as Sri Lanka came up with a clinical performance to beat them by six wickets in the final of the World T20 in Mirpur on Sunday. While Sri Lanka emerged third time lucky in a World T20 summit clash, Mahendra Singh Dhoni's hopes of adding a second World T20 title to the 50-over World Cup triumph in 2011 and Champions Trophy in England two years later ended in disappointment.
The match had to be decided via Super Over, where the defending champions opted to send Hardik Pandya with Kieron Pollard.
Sangakkara's fellow former captain Mahela Jayawardene, also 37, is also calling time on his one-day career after the tournament, bringing an end to a career in which he has scored 12,650 runs in 448 matches.
All-rounder JP Duminy claimed a hat-trick as South Africa stormed into the World Cup semi-finals with a comprehensive nine-wicket victory over Sri Lanka at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday.
Kumar Sangakkara became the first batsman to hit four successive centuries in a World Cup and Tillakaratne Dilshan stroked a fluent hundred in Sri Lanka's 363-9 against Scotland in a Pool A match at Bellerive Oval on Wednesday.
The World Cup will be the last assignment for Kumar Sangakkara in One-Day Internationals and the Sri Lankan left-hander has ensured he will sign off on a high, at least on the personal front.
Sri Lanka thrashed South Africa by 128 runs in Colombo on Wednesday to wrap up the one-day series 4-1.
Tillakaratne Dilshan scored his third consecutive half-century as Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by 36 runs under Duckworth/Lewis in the third and final one-day international to clinch a 1-1 series draw on Saturday.
After the gruelling league phase of the ongoing IPL, the stage is set for the play-offs with CSK and MI clashing against each other for a place in May 12 final.
Dwayne Bravo termed the incredible 30-ball 68 against Mumbai Indians "my best-ever" innings, which paved the way for Chennai Super Kings' sensational return to the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Sohaib Maqsood and Fawad Alam struck quick-fire fifties and combined in a record 147-run sixth wicket stand as Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by four wickets with one ball remaining in the first one-day international at Hambantota on Saturday.
Pakistan's experienced batsman Younis Khan dug deep for his 24th Test century and his seventh against Sri Lanka to rescue his struggling side who closed on 261-4 on the opening day of the first Test on Wednesday.
Chris Gayle blasted a quickfire century to power West Indies to a comfortable six-wicket victory against Sri Lanka in the opening match of the tri-nation series in Jamaica, on Friday.
Rajneesh Gupta gives us all the numbers and tells us how Virat Kohli creates new record after record.
With 35 matches spread over 27 days, World T20 looks set to illustrate once again just how skewed the 20-overs game is against bowlers.
Michael Hussey was approached by former India batsman VVS Laxman for the job of Team India head coach, the ex-Australian cricketer has revealed in his latest book.
Aruneel Sadadekar/Rediff.com lists five matches you can't afford to miss out at the ICC's marquee event.
Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh combined for 449 runs and the sixth highest partnership in Test cricket history to put Australia firmly in control after the second day of the first Test against West Indies on Friday.
Former Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar heaved a sigh of relief when he was named in the team of his long-time rival Sachin Tendulkar for an inaugural three-match series in the US and said he's done bowling against the Indian batting legend whom he considers a 'brutal force' and the 'greatest player history has ever seen'.
Rajneesh Gupta presents some interesting numbers from first T20 match between India and South Africa.
40 must know nuggets about the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Having notched three straight victories after a string of losses, Mumbai Indians are looking to defeat Rajasthan Royals and inch closer to a play-offs berth when the two sides face each other in an Indian Premier League encounter in Mumbai on Sunday.
The cricket fraternity from across the globe reacted with shock and sadness at the sad demise of Australian batsman Philip Hughes.
After starting the series with a crushing victory, an upbeat India will aim to maintain their stranglehold over an under-prepared Sri Lanka when they meet in the second ODI in Motera on Thursday.
With his face covered in warpaint and his hair kept in place by a bandana in the Afghan flag colours, fast bowler Hamid Hassan has emerged as one of the cult figures of the World Cup.
The veteran Sri Lankan batsman, who will retire from One-Day Internationals at the end of the World Cup, is on a record-breaking spree.
Riding high on Lasith Malinga's five-wicket haul and opener Lahiru Thrimanne's fluent century, Sri Lanka regained the Asia Cup trophy with a comfortable five-wicket victory over defending champions Pakistan in Mirpur on Saturday.
Images from the Indian Premier League match between Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils at the MA Chidambaram stadium on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka, who won the last edition of the World T20 in 2014, have 21 wins from 31 matches in the six editions of the tournament, while India have 17 victories from 28 games. Check out the records of the previous five editions of the World T20.
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