Fast bowler Umesh Yadav claimed four wickets on his comeback, while captain Gautam Gambhir stroked an unbeaten half-century as Kolkata Knight Riders outclassed Kings XI Punjab by eight wickets.
Sloppy fielding and lacklustre bowling let Chennai Super Kings down against Kolkata Knight Riders
New captain Shreyas Iyer led from the front with a scintillating innings as Delhi Daredevils crushed Kolkata Knight Riders by 55 runs, in the Indian Premier League, in Delhi, on Friday.
While Trinbago Knight Riders ended Guyana Amazon Warriors' 11-match winning streak beating them by four wickets in a match reduced to 17 overs, Barbados Tridents edged out St. Kitts & Nevis Patriot by six runs at the Brian Lara Academy here on Tuesday.
Captain Virat Kohli described fast bowler Navdeep Saini as a raw talent who has a bright future after he made an impressive India debut in the four-wicket victory over the West Indies in the first T20 International, in Lauderhill, USA, on Saturday.
Karthik regained his batting form with an unbeaten 97 off 50 balls, helping KKR recover from 49 for 3 to a challenging 176
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.
Sunil Narine and Kemar Roach took three wickets each as Bangladesh were bowled out for 70 to give West Indies victory in the second one-day international by 177 runs on Friday.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be eager to break the sequence of reverses and get Rising Pune Supergiants' campaign back on track when they lock horns with in-form Kolkata Knight Riders.
Images from Thursday's IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals, in Kolkata.
The ICC has approved Nikita Miller as replacement for Sunil Narine in West Indies' WC squad
Smith top-scored with 73 not out for Rajasthan Royals in their relatively meagre total of 139 for three in Jaipur.
KKR will head to the game with the belief that the side can win from any situation, which they have demonstrated time and again.
Kolkata Knight Riders will begin their title defence against a formidable Mumbai Indians side in the opening match of the eighth edition of Indian Premier League at the Eden Gardens, in Kolkata, on Wednesday.
Images from Monday's IPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders, in Sharjah.
Mumbai get the money-spinning tournament rolling in Chennai on Friday, just four months after claiming their second successive title, with a match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, led by India captain Virat Kohli.
'We have a number of match-winners, so it's very difficult to go up the order'
Veteran Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal has declined Pakistan Cricket Board's offer of a 'fitting send-off', saying he still has a lot to contribute to the game and his country. A tweet from PCB executive committee chairman Najam Sethi over the weekend raised speculation that Ajmal and fellow veteran Shahid Afridi were set to announce their retirement from the international game.
Off-spinner Sunil Narine was already indicating he would be a factor later in the game as he put New Zealand's batsmen under immense pressure on the second day of the third Test on Friday before the hosts finished on 156 for three at the close of play.
Knuckle ball a powerful weapon for bowlers, says Aaron Finch.
India concluded the two-match US leg of the series by taking an unassailable 2-0 lead after notching up a 22-run win in the second game on Sunday.
Mumbai Indians have an eight-match winning streak against Kolkata Knight Riders with an overall 18-5 head-to-head record.
Robin Uthappa, on Saturday, said he's relishing his new-found role at number three as he guided Kolkata Knight Riders to a 17-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in their Indian Premier League match in Kolkata.
Chahar started the rot for KKR early in their innings when he trapped opener Chris Lynn in front of the wickets as the Aussie missed a pull off a delivery that kept low. Lynn was sent back inside the first over for a duck. He came into the equation in the next over when he took a brilliant catch, running backwards, to dismiss Sunil Narine for just 6 off the bowling of Harbhajan Singh.
Here are some Images from match 27 of the Indian Premier League...
Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan hit half-centuries as Kolkata Knight Riders edged past Delhi Daredevils by four wickets, in the Indian Premier League, in Delhi, on Monday.
Buoyant Kolkata Knight Riders will look to continue their winning momentum when they face defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League, in Kolkata, on Saturday.
Images from Monday's Indian Premier League match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab in Sharjah.
Images from Wednesday's IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore, in Abu Dhabi.
Suresh Raina's return could not have been better-timed as Gujarat Lions, jolted by the tournament's biggest ever defeat, seek to revive their campaign when they face off with Kolkata Knight Riders.
ujarat Lions face the challenging task of gathering themselves and bounce back when they square off against the consistent Kolkata Knight Riders.
'Narine's absence is a big loss for us'
Kolkata Knight Riders may have the home advantage going into the openng game against Mumbai Indians, but it's the rival skipper Rohit Sharma, who oozed confidence, terming that his team feels equally at home, having won their maiden Indian Premier League title at this venue two years ago.
The art of Chinaman bowling is becoming a rarity in the world of cricket, but ask Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Kuldeep Yadav and he would tell you that after seeing him perform, many would take u to this extremely tough art of bowling.
'The main motivation when I get a game is to perform for the team and help the team win'
Bollywood superstar and principal owner Shah Rukh Khan on Sunday cheered for Kolkata Knight Riders from the stands even as his new-look team, under new skipper Dinesh Karthik, looked to regain some lost ground in the post-Gautam Gambhir era at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Kolkata Knight Riders will have to break the agonising sequence of debacles when they clash with defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL eliminator, in Bengaluru, on Wednesday.
While KKR suffered their heaviest defeat of the season against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their last game, Pune looked to have found their mojo in the business end of the tournament having registered consecutive wins in their last two matches.
India retained the No 1 spot in the latest Reliance ODI team rankings while Virat Kohli maintained the number two position with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni static at the seventh place in the batting chart released in Dubai.
Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by 17 runs in their Indian Premier League match, in Kolkata, on Saturday.