Any cricket tour of the Caribbean stirs a sense of excitement. It is not just about the cricket; it is also about experiencing the unique cultures, rhythms and ways of life that make these islands unlike any other place in the world.

Take Barbados, for instance. Home to just 300,000 people and spread across a mere 430 square kilometres, the island has produced a remarkable assembly line of cricketing talent. If it is opening batsmen you seek, they gave the world Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes. If fast bowlers are your thing, then Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner stand tall among the game’s greatest. And if you are searching for the ultimate all-rounder, there is only one answer – Sir Garry Sobers.

Over the next six weeks, Sri Lanka’s cricketers will be immersed in this cricket-loving corner of the world as they take part in a series comprising three ODIs, three T20 Internationals and two Test matches.

For the major part of the tour, Sri Lanka will be based in Jamaica, where both the ODI and T20I series will be contested. The teams will then head to Antigua for the two-match Test series.

These are two evenly matched sides and the Test series, in particular, carries added significance with valuable World Test Championship points at stake. After years of underachievement in the longest format, the West Indies have become far more competitive and difficult to beat. Sri Lanka, therefore, can expect a stern examination

With both Dimuth Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews having retired from Test cricket, opportunities have opened up for the next generation. It remains to be seen who will seize them. Incidentally, Sri Lanka will be playing their first Test match in exactly a year, their previous appearance in the format having come in June 2025.

The white-ball leg of the tour gets underway with the ODIs before attention shifts to the T20Is. Kusal Mendis has been entrusted with the leadership of both limited-overs sides. While his batting form in both formats over the last two years has been exceptional, there are concerns that the selectors may be demanding too much from him. The right-hander is expected to captain the side, keep wickets and open the batting – three demanding responsibilities rolled into one.

With the World Cup in South Africa only 15 months away, this Caribbean tour could provide valuable clues about the combinations Sri Lanka should pursue for cricket’s biggest event. The lively pitches expected in the West Indies should offer a fair indication of how the side might fare in South African conditions.

There will be considerable focus on seam-bowling all-rounder Milan Rathnayake, whom many regard as a player tailor-made for South African conditions. The tour could well prove to be an important stepping stone in his development.

The opening ODI on Wednesday is a day game and will commence at 8 p.m. Sri Lanka time. The next two ODIs, both day-night encounters, will begin at 1 a.m. The T20Is are scheduled at a far friendlier hour for local fans, with first ball at 6 a.m. The two Test matches, meanwhile, will get underway at 7.30 p.m. Sri Lanka time.

Rajasthan Royals (RR) batter Vaibhav Sooriyavanshi has won the Most Valuable Player (MVP), Orange Cap (most runs), and Emerging Player awards in IPL 2026 after amassing 776 runs in 16 innings at a strike rate of 237.30.

Gujarat Titans (GT) quick Kagiso Rabada won the Purple Cap for topping the wickets chart. He took 29 wickets from 17 games at an economy rate of 9.68. This was the second time he won the Purple Cap, having done so previously in IPL 2020 when he took 30 wickets for Delhi Capitals. Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Bhuveneshwar Kumar was a close second with 28 wickets.

Sooryavanshi, 15, is the first player to win both the MVP and Emerging Player awards in the same season. He was the first since Chris Gayle in 2011 to top both the runs and strike rate charts (min. 20 balls faced) in the same season. Sooryavanshi hit 72 sixes in IPL 2026, breaking Gayle’s record of most sixes (59) in an IPL season, and played a key role in RR making it to the playoffs. They eventually lost to GT in Qualifier 2 in New Chandigarh.

“It feels nice, but there is pressure because I am doing interviews. It is a proud moment and I will try and do well next season too,” Sooryanvashi said after collecting his awards at the end of the final. “I try to back my game and if the ball is there to be hit, I go all out for it and just try to play that way.

“How to play the pressure game, how to change myself every game, you can’t play every game in one mode, you need to read the game situation and play according to the team’s requirements. These are my learnings from this season. [On fitness] Yes, my focus is on that. If I have to play long, I have to stay clear of injuries and work on my fitness and have to focus more.”

GT captain Shubman Gill was second on the Orange Cap list with 732 runs. He was followed by his team-mate and opening partner B Sai Sudharsan, who finished with 722.

At the Cricinfo Honours awards on the eve of the IPL final, Sachin Tendulkar had said Sooriyavanshi was “truly special”.

“Everyone is talking about Sooryavanshi, and I watched him bat – it was magnificent. I mean he is something truly special. And not just the ability to hit the ball, but what also fascinated me was the wrist work that he has. To be able to play in all directions of the ground, you need good wrist work. And he is not slogging the ball. He is just picking the line and length earlier than the rest of the guys and he is able to clear the rope comfortably.”

[Cricinfo]

It took them 18 years to win their first title, but Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) took no time in becoming only the third team to successfully defend it. Their seam bowlers made superb use of a slightly sticky surface after Rajat Patidar won the toss, restricting Gujarat Titans (GT), who were in their third final in five years of their existence, to 155, the exact same score RCB managed in the league match against the seam team in the same ground on the same pitch No. 6 bang in the middle of the square.

Josh Hazelwood who has never lost a T20 or ODI final, set the tone with the wicket of Shubman Gill in his first over. Bhuveneshwar Kumar momentarily reclaimed the purple cap with two wickets, and Rasikh Salam capped off his best IPL with three to take his tally for the year to 19. Last final’s Player of the match, Krunal Pandya, who won his fifth IPL final out of five, also chipped in with the big wicket of Jos Buttler in his analysis of 4-0-23-1. He is now behind only Rohit Sharma and Ambati Rayudu in number of titles, and is also the first player to successfully defend a title with two different teams.

Only three out of 26 scores under 190 in a full match had been defended successfully this IPL. With the ball still nibbling around, the best attack in the tournament would have thought they had a chance, but amid falling wickets, Virat Kohli chose this final to hit his fastest IPL fifty and his highest playoff score, leading a five-wicket win with two overs to spare.

Get the openers

Gill and B Sai Sudharsan came into the final as the only pair of batters from the same team to have scored 700 or more runs in the same IPL. However, they were up against bowlers that have troubled them in the past. A cagey start ensued, Gill survived the Bhuvneshwar over, but Hazlewood had him top-edging his signature short-arm pull.

GT promoted Nishant Sindhu to No. 3 to protect Buttler from Bhuvneshwar, but the wily bowler made sure Buttler had to come out as he took out Sudharsan in his second over. He first beat Sudharsan on the charge with a bouncer before continuing with another, this one taking the toe end on the ramp. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, in attendance in Ahmedabad, was now assured of the orange cap. This was only the fourth time this IPL that both the GT owners had been dismissed inside the powerplay, three of them against RCB.

Middle-overs choke

Seeing some grip from the pitch and conventional, subdued batters at the wicket, Krunal shelved all his fancy change-ups and bowled only length. His first three overs yielded zero boundaries. Salam was equally miserly at the other end, just bowling good length and enjoying the slight variations from the surface. One of those had Sindhu caught at long-on.

When Krunal started his final over, they had gone 37 legal deliveries without a boundary. Krunal expected the frustrated Buttler to try something, saw him coming and fired in a wide yorker for a spectacular stumping by Jitesh Sharma.

Another promotion followed with Arshad Khan walking in and hitting the fourth ball of the 13th over for a six, only one ball quicker than the longest it has taken a team to hit a six in an IPL final.

No let-up from RCB

Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar and Salam offered no freebies in the death overs. Every time GT thought they could build some momentum, one of the quicks jolted them with a wicket. Hazlewood got Arshad, Bhuvneshwar made it 28 wickets for the season with Jason Holder’s scalp, and Salam took out Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan in the end. Only Jacob Duffy went wicketless, but he, too, nearly had Washington Sundar,  who went on from the reprieve to score a fighting 37-ball 50.

The high-octane chase

Like he did in the 2024 final with a 50 at two runs a ball, Venkatesh Iyer got the middling chase to a flying start. Not that he needed extra licence, but an injury to the inside of the knee in the first over of the chase left him no option but to hit out. He hit out against Rabada in his first over, and by the time Mohammed Siraj got him out for 32 off 16, he had set RCB on their way.

While Venkatesh might have added reason to hit out, Kohli lashed out at Rabada with ferocity that was only foretold by a season in which he has matched some of the younger, more cutting-edge T20 batters. Of  the six batters to have scored 600 or more this IPL, only Sooryavanshi and Ishan Kishan have done so quicker than his 675 at 165.84.

As is often expected of Kohli, he was pumped up when he took on his great rival Rabada, hitting a spectacular six and three fours in Rabada’s second. Rattled bowlers lost their line against Kohli, whose first run on the off side was his 39th. By that time, Rabada had taken back his purple cap with Devdutt Padikkal’s wicket and Rashid Khan would soon take two in his first over, but the asking rate was already under a run a ball.

Only an injury to Kohli slowed down RCB’s march to the title, but Kohli finished it off in style with a four and a six off the last two balls of the 18th over.

Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 161 for 5 in 18 overs (Venkatesh Iyer 32, Virat Kohli 75*, Rajat Patidar 15, Tim David 24, Jitesh Sharma  11*; Mohammed Siraj 1-36, Kagiso Rabada 1-44,  Rashid Khan 2-25, Arshad Khan 1-32) beat Gujarat Titans 155 for 8 in 20 overs (Sai Sudarshan 12, Shubman Gill 10, Nishant Sindhu 20, Jos Buttler 19, Washington Sundar 50*, Arshad Khan 15; Rasikh Salam 3-27, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2-29, Josh Hazelwood 2-37, Krunal Pandya 1-23) by five wickets

[Cricinfo]