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Under captain Nicholas Pooran, the West indies cruised to victory in the Twenty20 International series against Bangladesh on Thursday.

Chasing 164 runs, West Indies defeated Bangladesh by 5 wickets to win the three-match series 2-0 at the Guyana National Stadium.

Pooran, who played a decisive innings in the third match, scored an unbeaten 74 off 39 balls. In his last five innings, he managed to score 04 fifties. The special thing is that he got three half-centuries in a row against the mighty India.

Accordingly, he won the Man of the Match and Man of the series awards. He added comments during a discussion held after the match. There he said about his captaincy,

“It is definitely interesting. I have to enjoy it. I have a really good bunch of guys supporting me and I am thankful for that. These guys are special and I trust them and I think they trust me enough and it makes my job easier as well.”

He has been able to bring good confidence and laughter in the Caribbean audience in this short time as the white ball captain.

“I am just happy to be around and for us to continue to be together as a team, continue to put smiles on the Caribbean fans’ faces once more, and we want to continue doing this for a long period of time.”

In the third T20I, left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein and leg-spinner Hayden Walsh proved very profitable, while Obed McCoy and Romario Shepherd took 2 wickets each.

“I think the bowlers responded well. We know as a bowling group—especially as a young bowling group—we have a lot of work to do especially in important phases of the game.”

He further appreciated the two spin bowler,

“I must commend my spinners, Hayden and Akeal. They have been fantastic throughout this series and I am happy these guys are performing when it matters for us and they are growing in confidence.”

However, he is of the opinion that the fast bowlers need to be more consistent.

“Our fast bowlers, we just need to be a little more consistent but it’s ok, it’s fine because they’re young and they’re going to learn on the job and we believe in them. That’s most important. We’re here to support them 100 percent and hopefully going into the future these guys can come up trumps for us. They have amazing skills and we back them 100 percent.”

West Indies are scheduled to play three ODIs in Guyana on July 10, 13 and 16 respectively against Bangladesh.

West Indies thumped Bangladesh once again in the third and final T20 International at the Guyana National Stadium on Thursday to seal the series 2-0 after the first game was washed out in Dominica last Saturday.

Captain Nicholas Pooran was at his devastating best in blazing the West Indies to a comfortable five-wicket win over Bangladesh.

As Result, West Indies Captain got player of the match award for his unbeaten 74 off 39 balls in 3rd T20I and also got player of the series award.

Also, 55 from opening batsman Kyle Mayers anchored the West Indies’ pursuit of the Bangladesh’s total of 163 for five.

Having come to the crease with the innings at 43 for three in the seventh over, Pooran asserted himself from the outset.

With fellow left-hander Mayers following suit, the pair transformed a potentially tough challenge into a relaxed canter by the end in a rollicking fourth-wicket stand of 85 off eight overs.

West Indies skipper belted five sixes and fours in an innings which occupied just 39 deliveries for his 74.

“I definitely love Guyana and love performing here,” said Pooran after receiving the “Man of the Match” and “Man of the Series” awards. “I ask my players to trust me, even if they don’t always like me.”

Mayers, whose stature in all formats continues to grow after being named “Man of the Series” in the preceding two-Test contest, smashed five sixes and two fours in his 38-ball innings before falling to left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed in the 15th over.

“I was telling Kyle how well he was batting out there,” Pooran said afterwards. “It was a top innings. He was putting away the loose balls. The bowlers were under pressure even though they were on top of the game. We want to continue to do that as a batting unit. He made my job easier, to build the partnership with him.

“Our template was always to put the bowlers under pressure early in the over. Kyle put away anything loose from their offspinners. I think I fed off that today. In T20s, a partnership is the most important thing.”

By then the result was a formality. Pooran sealed victory with a towering straight six off his Bangladeshi counterpart Mahmudullah.

Earlier, Mahmudullah had opted to bat first and Afif Hossain and opener Liton Das help to Bangladesh get challenging total.

Afif’s scored 50 off 38 balls, with two sixes and two fours, and Liton scored 49 off 41 balls, with two sixes and three fours.

They put on 57 for the third wicket before Mahmudullah contributed 22 in a 49-run fourth-wicket stand with Afif.

Both teams stay in Guyana for a three-match One-Day International series starting on Sunday.

West indies captain Nicholas Pooran says he hopes his team can put in another good performance and Seal the T20 series against Bangladesh in the 3rd and Final match in Guyana.

Also he added, he is satisfied that players are showing their 100% in the T20 series against Bangladesh.

West Indies won the second T20I by 35 runs and lead 1-0 in the series at Windsor Park, in Dominica. 1st T20I was absence due to rain.

“I don’t want to keep singling out anyone,” Pooran said.

“It was a collective effort, a lot of guys put their hands up and that is what we want from a team perspective.” he added

“T20 cricket is very inconsistent and it is difficult for guys to keep performing day in, day out but it is nice that guys are contributing and that is what matters most. At the end of the day once we could get the guys doing exactly what the team needs to win then we are happy.”

“It is always good having a lead in the series. Hopefully we get good weather and we can close off the series.” he said

Pooran said a series victory over Bangladesh will give the team a boost as they prepare to play India and New Zeland in the up coming months.

“As a team, we spoke about winning games and series.If we can get a series win here,  it will be wonderful for us and give us the confidence to play India and New Zealand,” said Pooran.

Pooran struck 34 off 30 balls in the second T20. skipper was satisfied he was among the runs again.

“I am feeling wonderful – 34 off 30 balls I think I did the job for the team there. Obviously I could have gotten more runs there, but looking forward to the rest of the games and the summer.”

West Indies and Bangladesh will play in the third and final T20, at the Guyana National Stadium, in Providence, from 1.30 pm, on Thursday.

West Indies opener John Campbell has been accused of anti doping violations and he is facing the risk of being banned.

According to the West Indies Players’, Association, Jamaica’s Anti-Doping Commission has held a preliminary hearing after bringing the allegation charge against Campbell.

According to the West Indies Players’ Association, an inquiry (trial) is scheduled to be held on July 19.

Television Jamaica had reported on this as follows.

However before the allegations were made, chief selector Desmond Haynes spoke about opener John Campbell in a press conference on Wednesday. There he said that John was playing really well with the captain.

“You can see that he is very determined.  He wants to do well.  The way he and Kraigg bat together, they tend to bounce off of each other.”

He Batted well with Brathwaite in the concluded Bangladesh Test series. Together they built 44, 100, and 13 excellent partnership and Haynes said he will give the team a good start that it hasn’t had in years.

“We’ve given John a run, and we’re hoping he will continue.  He looks the part to me.  One or two against Bangladesh were a little bit unfortunate… but apart from that, he has given us some good starts, something we weren’t getting years ago.”

Campbell has played 20 Test matches where he has not scored a single century and  He has scored 03 fifties with 888 runs.

“We were either 15 for three or five for three, and so far, we’re getting some starts, and I think that John is actually trying to get a score.  He’s doing well.  He’s working on his game and I think he’s performing fairly well.”

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has named a 16-man squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against West Indies starting later this month.

Shikhar Dhawan will be leading India in the upcoming ODI series against West Indies while Ravindra Jadeja will be his deputy.

The India squad is currently gearing up for a three-match T20I series against England which will be followed by three ODIs.

India’s England tour will get over by July 17 while the West Indies tour starts five days later from July 22. All three ODIs will be played at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad.

Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant have been rested for the series.

Dhawan led India against Sri Lanka in away fixtures. The Men in Blue clinched a win in the three-match ODI series but suffered a defeat in the T20Is.

Jadeja who has been named the vice-captain of the side last played an ODI for India back in 2020 against Australia while Shubman Gill has also received a call-up.

The right-handed batter has played three ODIs in the Indian colours and has only managed to score 49 runs.

Apart from this, Deepak Hooda who played two ODIs earlier this year has been rewarded for his exceptional batting display in the T20I series against Ireland where the right-handed batter scored a ton. Hooda has scored 55 runs in the two ODI matches that he has played so far for India.

India’s squad for 3 ODIs: Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (vice-captain), Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohd Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.

 

West Indies T20 specialists like Carlos Brathwaite, Evin Lewis were among the highest-priced international acquisitions during the 3rd edition of Lanka Premier League Player draft.

The players’ draft for the third edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2022 happened on Tuesday (July 5).

Each of the five franchises allowed to pick six international players, with one from each price category barring Gold and Silver.

The pre-draft portion of the squad selection, however, meant that for many of the teams the top-tier draft picks had been decided well in advance of the draft proper.

The draft included players in seven price points: Ruby (US$ 60,000) Sapphire ($ 50,000), Diamond A ($ 40,000), Diamond B ($ 25,000), Platinum ($ 15000), Gold ($ 10,000) and Silver ($ 3000).

353 players registered for the draft, including 180 foreign players and 173 local players. Each franchise picked 20 players from the draft, with 14 of them having to be local players and the 6 others having to be overseas players.

End of the players’ draft, 9 Pakistani players, 7 West Indian players, 5 South African players, 4 players from Afghanistan, 3 Australian players and one player each from New Zealand and Nepal were divided for the Lanka Premier League this year.

Amoung the drafted 7 West indies Players, Former West Indies T20I captain Carlos Brathwaite, who has amassed 2,240 runs, 214 wickets in more than 200 T20 career appearances and his teammates like all rounder Fabian Allen (USD 50,000), Andre Fletcher (USD 40,000) were picked up by Kandy Falcons.

While West indies opener Evin Lewis – who played for LSG in IPL 2022 – was picked up by Jaffna Kings, Sherfane Rutherford drafted by Galle Gladiators (USD 25,000).

Meanwhlie, West Indian Allrounder Dominic Drakes, who was member of IPL Winners this year (Gujarat Titans) drafted by Colombo stars (USD 40,000). Also, Sheldon Cottrel Will be join with Dambulla Giants (USD 15000)

The 3rd edition of the Lanka Premier League, will commence on the 6th of December 2022.

This year’s edition will be played across 3 venues, namely MRICS, Hambantota; PKICS, Kandy; and RPICS, Colombo.

The tournament will kick off with matches played in MRICS, Hambantota, and then move to PKICS,Kandy, before shifting to RPICS, Colombo, to play the last leg of the first round matches of the tournament, including the eliminator round and the finals.

The opening game of the tournament will be played between reigning champions Jaffna and the runner-up of the 2021 edition, Team Galle.

Here are the final 20-member squads of each franchise,

Galle Gladiators Squad: Imad Wasim, Danushka Gunathilaka, Faheem Ashraf, Dushmantha Chameera, Janneman Malan, Sherfane Rutherford, Azam Khan, Kusal Mendis, Lakshan Sandakan, Nuwan Thushara, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Pulina Tharanga, Nuwanidu Fernando, Nimesh Vimukthi, Movin Subasinhga, Nipun Malinga, Sachindu Colombage, Lakshan Gamage, Tharindu Kaushal, Sammu Ashan

Jaffna Kings Squad: Evin Lewis, Thisara Perera, Hardus Viljoen, Dhananjaya de Silva, Shoaib Malik, Shahnawaz Dahani, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Maheesh Theekshana, Binura Fernando, Dunith Wellalage, Tristan Stubbs, Praveen Jayawickrama, Suminda Lakshan, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dilshan Madushanka, Nipun Dananjaya, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Theesan Vidushan, Theivendiram Dinoshan, Ashan Randika

Colombo Stars Squad: Dwaine Pretorius, Angelo Mathews, Asif Ali, Charith Asalanka, Dominic Drakes, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Niroshan Dickwella, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya Lakshan, Karim Janat, Seekkuge Prasanna, Jeffrey Vandersay, Ishan Jayaratne, Muditha Lakshan, Lakshitha Manasinghe, Kevin Koththigoda, Chathuranga Kumara, Navod Paranavithana, Chamod Battage

Dambulla Giantsb Squad: D’Arcy Short, Dasun Shanaka, Ben Cutting, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Sandeep Lamichhane, Tim Seifert, Haider Ali, Chaturanga de Silva, Ramesh Mendis, Nuwan Pradeep, Sheldon Cottrell, Tharindu Ratnayake, Pramod Madushan, Lasith Croospulle, Kalana Perera, Dilum Sudeera, Sachitha Jayathilake, Dushan Hemantha, Sacha De Alwis, Ravindu Fernando

Kandy Falcons Squad: Carlos Brathwaite, Wanindu Hasaranga, Fabian Allen, Chamika Karunaratne, Andre Fletcher, Dewald Brevis, Chris Green, Isuru Udana, Matheesha Pathirana, Ashen Bandara, Usman Shinwari, Kamindu Mendis, Ashan Priyanjan, Minod Bhanuka, Avishka Perera, Ashian Daniel, Malinda Pushpakumara, Janith Liyanage, Lasith Abeyratne, Kavin Bandara