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IPL 2025: Narine’s all-round show sets up tense win for Kplkata Knight Riders

Published

1 year ago

2025/04/30

Priyan

Sunil Narine made a match-winning impact [Cricinfo]

Sunil Narine’s figures at one point: 2.1-0-25-0. Varun Chakravarthy at another: 3-0-31-0. In a chase of 205, having restricted a rampant Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Delhi Capitals (DC) were in the ascendence having punished the two main KKR weapons. And then the two of them came back with a vengeance: combined, they bowled their last 17 balls for five wickets and 12 runs to get KKR’s title defence back on track.

DC’s captain Axar Patel topped up his figures of 4-0-27-2 with three sixes off Narine despite an injured bottom hand. Narine found himself captaining KKR after Ajinkya Rahane split his finger open and vice-captain Venkatesh Iyer had been substituted out. Captaining was not the only rare thing he did: he also ran KL Rahul out with a direct hit from short fine leg. His real blows came with the ball: wickets of Axar, Tristan Stubbs and top-scorer Fafdu Plesisi as DC went from 136 for 3 to 190 for 9.

Some of it was down to some ordinary bowling from DC fast bowlers, who frequently kept overpitching, but KKR were not complaining. Narine, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Rahane took toll of the wayward overs to 91 in seven overs. They put together their best opening stand – 48 – of the year and their second-best powerplay – 79. The only problem for KKR was that all three got out in the mid-20s, leaving Rinku Singh and Angkrish Raghuvanshi with a repair job in the second half of the middle overs.

Rinku and Raghuvanshi added 61 in 7.3 overs for the fifth wicket, gave Andre Russell the perfect platform, but somehow Russell spent more time watching from the non-strikers. He faced only nine balls in three overs as wickets kept falling at the other end. Only 45 came in the last five overs, turning a great start on the best batting surface in Delhi so far into just the second-highest total there this year.

KKR might be many things but they are not conservative. They threw the new ball to AnukulRoy, in his first match of the season, to bowl at a left-hand batter, on a non-responsive pitch and with only two fielders out. He was smashed for four first ball, but an arm ball got rid of Porel immediately. Vaibhav Arora, relegated to the second over for a change, got Karun Nair lbw with a yorker. Rahul indulged in one of the most wasteful activities in any form of cricket: the quick single. So poorly judged was the run that even Narine could run him out.

Du Plessis, though, was loving the pace in the pitch after his struggles in the last match. To help du Plessis out, Axar, who spent the end of the first innings off the field with an injured left hand, took down Narine like few others have. Only once has a batter hit more sixes off Narine in an IPL innings. It was also a night when Varun seemed off, not even trying to spin the ball and getting hit off high-pace deliveries.

With du Plessis taking down pace and Axar taking care of spin, it looked like a cruise when Axar hit Narine for his third six to make it 69 required off 41 with two big hitters still in the shed. Axar just happened to hit a slower short ball straight to cover, giving Narine an opening, which he burst through with a small offbreak to Stubbs in the same over.

Now Narine the captain also got into the act. Despite overs of pace up his sleeve, he went back to Roy. Here is why: by the end of his innings, du Plessis’ strike-rate against spin was 100 and 206.25 against pace. They bowled 29 balls of spin at him, and only 16 of pace. He scored only eight off the last 13 balls he faced. Narine was there to accept the wicket when he played the desperate shot 59 required off 29.

DC still had Ashutosh Sharma and Nigam, they took 11 off the 17th over, and Narine now trusted his spin twin despite the night he had had. And Varun responded with dot, wicket, wicket to send back Ashutosh and Mitchell Starc. Game over.

KKR now have nine points from 10 games, just staying in touch with the top six. With 12 points in 10 matches, DC were now under threat of not finishing in the top two after a great start to their tournament.

Brief scores:

Kolkata Knight Riders 204 for 9 in 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 26, Sunil Narine 27, Ajinkya Rahane 26, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 44, Rinku Singh 36, Andre Russell 17; Mitchell Starc 3-43, Dushmantha Chameera 1-36, Vipraj Nigam 2-41, Axar Patel 2-27) beat Delhi Capitals 190 for 9 in 20 overs (Faf Du Plessis 62, Karun Nair 15, Axar Patel 43, Vipraj Nigam 38; Anukul Roy 1-27, Vaibhav Arora 1-19 Varun Chakravarthy 2-39, Sunil Narine 3-29, Andre Rusell 1-22) by 14 runs

[Cricinfo]

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BCCI AGM set for September 18 in Mumbai

Published

2 hours ago

2026/08/26

Priyan

The 95th AGM will be held at the BCCI headquarters [Cricbuzz]

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will be held in Mumbai on September 18. This was confirmed by a communication from the BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia’s office to the state association on Tuesday. The BCCI headquarters will be the venue for the AGM, which will be 95th AGM of the board.

“Notice is hereby given that the 95th Annual General Meeting (hereinafter referred to as “AGM”) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (“BCCI”), which will be held at BCCI Headquarters, Mumbai, on September 18, 2026 at 11:30 AM (IST), to transact the business as per the agenda annexed herewith,” the AGM notice from the secretary’s office read.

The key items on the agenda include the election and induction of two representatives of the General Body to the IPL Governing Council, as well as the induction of one representative of the Indian Cricketer’s Association to the IPL Governing Council. The AGM will also take up the BCCI’s audited accounts for FY 2025-26 and the annual budget for FY 2026-27.

The AGM is also expected to see the confirmation of the appointments to the Junior Cricket Committee. The BCCI has invited applications for five positions on the committee, with the deadline for submissions set for September 5. The appointments will be made after a screening and shortlisting process followed by personal interviews.

The full agenda for the 95th AGM includes:

Confirmation of the minutes of the 94th Annual General Meeting of BCCI held on September 28, 2025, at BCCI Headquarters, Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Election and induction of 2 (two) representatives of the General Body in the Governing Council of the IPL.
Induction of 1 (one) representative of the Indian Cricketer’s Association in the Governing Council of the IPL.
Adoption of the Report of the Secretary for the year 2025-26 under review.
Copies of the audited Statement of Accounts of BCCI for the year FY 2025-2026 including schedule for any tour or tours.
Adoption of the Treasurer’s Report and the audited accounts for the year FY 2025-2026.
Adoption of the Annual Budget for FY 2026-27.
Appointment of the Auditor or Auditors for FY 2026-27 and fix their remuneration.
Appointment of the Ombudsman and Ethics Officer.
Appointment of the Standing Committees, Cricket Committees and Umpire Committee as mentioned in Rules 25, 26 and 27 respectively.
Consideration of:(a) The Report and recommendations of the Apex Council, the CEO and the Committees and to propose policy directions to the Apex Council.(b) The Report and recommendations of the Governing Council and to propose policy directions to the Governing Council.(c) The reports of the Ombudsman and Ethics Officer and any recommendations made therein.
Report of the Internal Committee of BCCI formed under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment Policy.
Grant of Associate Membership to Cricket Association Andaman & Nicobar Island for the Union Territory of Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Consideration of any motion, notice whereof is given by a Full Member to the Secretary, 21 (twenty-one) days before the meeting.
To appoint the BCCI’s Representative or Representatives on the International Cricket Council and/or any similar organization.
Ratification of rules framed by the Apex Council, in terms of Rule 15 of BCCI’s Rules and Regulations.
Consideration of any business, which the President may consider necessary to be included in the agenda.
Transaction of any other business of an informal character as may be permitted by the Chairperson.

[Cricbuzz]

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Three franchises sold in Afghanistan Premier League T20

Published

2 hours ago

2026/08/26

Priyan

[pic Cricbuzz]

The Afghanistan Premier League T20 has unveiled its three inaugural franchises and the competition’s trophy ahead of its first season, which is scheduled to begin on December 27, 2026. The three announced teams are Axcel United Kabul, Balkh Zwanan and Kandahar Warriors.

The franchises and their team identities, were unveiled at a ceremony in Dubai attended by franchise owners, league partners and Afghanistan Cricket Board officials. The league also revealed its trophy, named the ‘Koh-E-Zafar’. The design draws inspiration from Afghanistan’s mountain ranges, intending to represent strength, resilience and the pinnacle of achievement in cricket.

The APL T20 player registration portal for the inaugural draft will open on August 30, with the draft itself scheduled for September 27. The league has yet to announce the complete tournament schedule and venues. ACB chairman Mirwais Ashraf said the launch represented an important step for Afghan cricket and highlighted the league’s potential to create a pathway for young players.

“Today is a landmark occasion for Afghan cricket. The unveiling of our inaugural franchises and the Koh-E-Zafar trophy reflects our shared vision of building a league that inspires future generations,” Ashraf said. The three franchises have also outlined ambitions centred around developing local talent and building strong connections with their respective regions.

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Prasidh and Suthar share six to keep India in driver’s seat

Published

21 hours ago

2026/08/25

Priyan

Prasidh Krishna's short balls brought him success [Cricinfo]

Sonal Dinusha was fighting a lone battle unbeaten on 85 as play came to a close on day three, Sri Lanka still 238 runs behind India’s 503 for 9 declared, with just two wickets in hand. At the crease alongside him was Lahiru Kumara, who had done well to hold his own during a 50-ball vigil for eight runs.

Dinusha’s fifty was his third such score in this series as he showcased the resolve that had been sorely lacking across Sri Lanka’s innings – he was one of only five batters to face at least than 50 deliveries in the innings, of which two of them were certified tailenders in Kumara and Keshara Nuwantha.

For India, it was Prasih Krishna and Manav Suthar that did a majority of the damage with both picking up three wickets apiece.

But what would be even more frustrating for the hosts, is that India’s bowlers had for the most part not really done enough to merit such a batting capitulation.

Kamil Mishara received a spicy bouncer from Krishna, one he could only fend through to Dhruv Jurel behind the stumps, while on the second evening both Lahiru Udara and Prabath Jayasuriya can claim bad light had impaired them.

But the rest of Sri Lanka’s batters fell almost exclusively against the run of play. Kamindu Mendis looked excellent until he swatted a pull straight to midwicket, Pasindu Sooriyabandara chopped on a non-threatening quicker one from Ravindra Jadeja, while Niroshan Dickwella tickled one down leg to Jurel for a three-ball duck.

Even Keshara, who had done so well to hang with Dinusha, lofted an ambitious inside out drive of Suthar to mid-off.

Scores:
Sri Lanka 265 for 8 in 83.4 overs (Pasindu Sooriyabandara 80, Sonal Dinusha 85*; Prasidh Krishna 3-47, Manav Suthar 3-83) trail India 503 for 9 dec by 238 runs

[Cricinfo]