Franchise Cricket

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Kolkata Knight Riders boosted their hopes of qualifying for the Indian Premier League play-offs by beating Delhi Capitals by 14 runs.

After being held to 204-9 after a fast start, KKR removed the Capitals' top three inside seven overs.

Faf du Plessis and Capitals captain Axar Patel rebuilt to 136-3 with a fine partnership of 76 but Axar, who was struggling with a hand injury sustained while fielding, fell as the first of three wickets for veteran spinner Sunil Narine.

Axar was caught at cover for 43, South Africa Tristan Stubbs bowled for one four balls later and Du Plessis caught at deep mid-wicket for 62.

West Indies international Narine, standing in as skipper with Ajinkya Rahane off the field, then turned to fellow spinner Varun Chakravarthy who dismissed Ashutosh Sharma and Mitchell Starc in consecutive balls.

Some powerful hitting by Vipraj Nigam kept the game alive but, with 25 needed from the final over, the Capitals finished on 190-9. Nigam fell for 38 from 19 balls off the penultimate ball.

Narine and Ramanullah Gurbaz had earlier put on 48 in three overs for the first wicket in KKR's innings which faded late on.

Narine made 27, Gurbaz and Rahane 26, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 44 and Rinku Singh 36, meaning they passed 200 despite losing 5-45 in the final five overs.

Rahane said before KKR will have to win their final five matches to finish in the top four. They remain seventh but close the gap to the Capitals in fourth to three points.

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Multan Sultans' miserable run in the Pakistan Super League continued as they were bowled out for just 89 in a 10-wicket thrashing by Quetta Gladiators.

Opener Mohammad Rizwan batted through for a run-a-ball 44 but number nine Usama Mir, who made 11, was the only other batter to reach double figures.

The score was the Sultans' lowest in their history.

Pakistan international Usman Khan and New Zealand's Michael Bracewell made ducks while former England all-rounder David Willey was out for seven.

Seamer Khurram Shahzad took 4-23 and Multan were bundled out in 17 overs.

The Gladiators took just 6.5 overs to complete their chase with Finn Allen ending unbeaten on 45 and Saud Shakeel 42 not out.

Multan have now lost six of their seven matches this season and are bottom of the table. The Gladiators move up a place into second behind leaders and defending champions Islamabad United.

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The cricket world is still reeling from 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi's stunning century in the Indian Premier League on Monday.

India legend Sachin Tendulkar has led the praise.

"Vaibhav's fearless approach, bat speed, picking the length early, and transferring the energy behind the ball was the recipe behind a fabulous innings," the former batter said. "Well played!"

Former England captain Jos Buttler, who was playing in the match for Rajasthan Royals' opponents Gujarat Titans, said: "Fair play youngster. That was incredible."

Yuvraj Singh, one of India's 2011 World Cup winners, said he was "proud to see the next generation shine".

"What were you doing at 14?!!" the all-rounder said.

"This kid is taking on the best bowlers in the world without blinking an eyelid! Vaibhav Suryavanshi - remember the name!"

India's Test and 50-over captain Rohit Sharma posted on Instagram to simply say "class", while T20 skipper Suryakumar Yadav said "witnessed this carnage of an innings by this youngster. Absolutely insane!"

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The BCCI are considering expanding the Indian Premier League (IPL) season to 94 matches and adopting a full home-and-away format from 2028.

The lucrative T20 franchise league expanded to a 74-game campaign in 2022 when Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Supergiants entered the competition.

However, while the option of extending the tournament in time for the next media-rights cycle in 2028 is being looked into, there are no plans for any new franchises to join the league.

Asked about a tweak in the format and adding more games, IPL chairman Arun Dhumal told ESPNCricinfo: "Definitely, that might be an opportunity.

"We've been discussing in ICC (International Cricket Council), we've been discussing in-house in BCCI.

"Ideally, we'd want a larger window, or to maybe go on from 74 to 84 or 94 at some point. So that every team gets to play against every team home and away, for that, you need 94 games.

"Given the window and the kind of commitments that we have with regards to bilateral cricket and ICC events, that may not be possible in the short term.

"But given the landscape, how it is changing and evolving over the years, maybe at some point in time we would look and take that option."

The future tours programme (FTP) means the IPL's window from mid-March until the end of May is set in stone for the next two years.

But it could be changed beyond that with details of the next FTP to be decided next year.

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Quetta Gladiators bowled out Peshawar Zalmi in 15.2 overs in a 64-run thrashing in the Pakistan Super League.

Faheem Ashraf took 5-33 in 3.2 overs for the Gladiators, while Khurram Shahzad also impressed with 2-9 from his three.

Mohammad Amir took the big wicket of Babar Azam in the third over, which set the tone for Peshawar's chase.

Babar's side stuttered through their innings, losing wickets at regular intervals. Hussain Talat's 39 from 34 balls was the only bright spark in an otherwise lacklustre batting display from the away side.

Scoring 178-7 in the first innings, each of the Gladiators' top five made starts, in an impressive team effort. Mark Chapman top-scored with 33 from 26 balls, with the lowest score in the top five being Rilee Rossouw's 27 from 18.

Alzarri Joseph returned Peshawar's best bowling figures, taking 3-33.

The big improvement to their net run-rate sees the Gladiators move up into third, with Peshawar Zalmi slipping to fifth.

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Jasprit Bumrah became Mumbai Indians' all-time leading wicket-taker as his side beat Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League by 54 runs.

The India bowler took 4-22, taking his overall tally to 174 and surpassing Lasith Malinga's 170.

Bumrah brilliantly took three of his wickets in the 16th over of Lucknow's innings, which ended any hopes of a successful run chase.

Ayush Badoni top-scored for Lucknow with 35 from 22 balls as they were bowled out for 161, chasing 216.

No batter for the Super Giants was able to push on, as the home side took wickets at regular intervals, with Trent Boult taking 3-20 and Will Jacks 2-18.

After losing the toss and being stuck in, Mumbai scored 215-7 to set Lucknow an imposing target.

Opener Ryan Rickelton set the tone for Mumbai with 58 from 32 balls, before Suryakumar Yadav provided the middle order flair we've come to expect, notching 54 from 28 deliveries.

There was also a late injection of runs from Naman Dhir, who struck an unbeaten 25 from 11 balls, including a final-ball six.

It is a fifth consecutive victory for Mumbai Indians, who move up to second in the table. Lucknow are sixth, two points off the play-off spots.

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A stunning partnership of 89 from 41 balls between New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell and Zimbabwe's Sikandar Raza helped Lahore Qalandars to a five-wicket win over Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League.

Chasing 186 to win, the pair came together at 95-4, with Mitchell on 19 from 17 balls.

The pair gelled beautifully and immediately transferred the pressure to the Sultans and almost got Qalandars over the line but Mitchell (64 off 38 balls) dragged on with two runs required.

Raza hit the winning run to finish unbeaten on 40 from 21 balls as the Qalandars won with six balls to spare.

The Sultans posted 185-3 from their 20 overs with Pakistan wicketkeeper Muhammad Rizwan making an unbeaten 76 from 48 balls at the top of the order.

It was a slow and sedate innings to start with Rizwan on 34 off 33 balls after 15 overs but he accelerated in the death overs.

He was supported by Kamran Ghulam's 52 not out from 31 balls in an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 115.

The win sees the Qalandars climb to second, behind defending champions Islamabad United, while the Sultans are bottom with one win from six games.

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Punjab Kings' match at Kolkata Knight Riders was abandoned due to heavy rain in the Indian Premier League.

The rain started to fall, alongside very strong winds, in the first over of the Knights Riders' chase and the umpires took the players off the field.

The rain was persistent and play was called off at 18:30 BST.

Punjab had posted 201-4 from their 20 overs with Prabhsimran Singh making 83 off 49 balls and Priyansh Arya 69 off 35.

The pair shared 120 for the opening wicket, with Arya dominating, before Prabhsimran went through the gears and looked to be propelling the Kings to a huge total.

However Knight Riders fought back well and restricted the Kings to 43 in the final six overs, with Glenn Maxwell out for seven to continue his difficult tournament, with his average now eight after six innings.

Both sides take a point each and Punjab remain fourth, while Kolkata are seventh but fourth points off the play-off places.

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Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming says they need to do a lot of "soul-searching" and reflect on where they went wrong at the Indian Premier League mega auction.

The five-time champions are bottom of the 10-team table with two wins from nine games and have lost their past four home matches.

Afghanistan leg-spinner Noor Ahmad and seamer Khaleel Ahmed have impressed but their only batter in the top 30 run-scorers is Shivam Dube, who was retained from 2024.

"It's hard to say we got it completely right with the performances that we've had," said Fleming.

"We have been looking over that in detail, just around our style of play and also looking at how the game is evolving.

"It is not easy, that is why we're proud of our record to date to be consistent for so long and it doesn't take much for it to go another way. Other teams have got better and that is the point of the auction but we just haven't been able to get it right.

"That has to be an area where we need to reflect and say 'it hasn't been as good as it could have been' or it hasn't worked out how we wanted.

"But, it is also not a perfect science, the auction is a very fluid beast. It is like buying 25 houses so you can come away from it mentally, and sometimes, physically exhausted.

"There's a lot of responsibility and soul-searching and that certainly starts at the top with me."

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Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Chennai Super Kings by five wickets in a match between the bottom two in the Indian Premier League.

Both sides went into the game with just two wins from their opening eight games, but it is Chennai who remain rooted to the bottom after suffering a fourth successive home defeat.

The five-time IPL winners were skittled out for 154 with one ball remaining in their innings, with Harshal Patel the pick of the bowlers taking 4-28.

Hyderabad stumbled to 54-3 and 90-4 in their chase, but a fifth-wicket partnership worth 49 between Nitish Kumar Reddy (19) and Kamindu Mendis (32) saw them home with eight balls to spare.

Kamindu hit the winning runs to complete a fine display that included bowling figures of 1-26 and a stunning catch to dismiss Chennai debutant Dewald Brevis.

A first win in Chennai for Hyderabad lifts last season's finalists above Rajasthan Royals into eighth and within four points of the play-off places.

Having been put into bat, the tone of Chennai's innings was set when opener Shaik Rasheed edged a wonderful seaming delivery from Mohammed Shami to first slip with the first ball of the match.

Brevis, who joined Chennai last week as a replacement for the injured Gurjapneet Singh, showed the most resistance with a punchy 42 from 25 balls before falling to Kamindu's stunning diving catch at long-off.

Hyderabad lost Abhishek Sharma with the second ball of their reply, but Travis Head (19) and Ishan Kishan (44) kept the innings on track.

Noor Ahmad (2-42) removed Kishan and Aniket Verma (19) in successive overs as Chennai sensed an opening, before Kamindu and Nitish saw Hyderabad over the line.

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A stunning collapse from Karachi Kings saw Quetta Gladiators claim a five-run victory in the Pakistan Super League.

Karachi lost six wickets for 22 runs in the space of 5.4 overs as their chase disintegrated following a promising start.

Needing 143, Karachi were cruising at 75-1 thanks to 47 from opener Tim Seifert and 30 from James Vince.

But Seifert's dismissal at the end of the 12th over saw them slip from 93-2 to 115-8 with just 15 balls remaining.

Hasan Ali's battling unbeaten 24 from 13 deliveries lifted Karachi back to within sight of victory, but it was too little, too late.

Mohammad Wasim, Mohammad Amir and Khurram Shahzad picked up two wickets apiece for Quetta, who secured their second win of the season.

Faheem Ashraf had earlier top-scored with 43 as Quetta scrambled their way to 142 all out, with Kusal Mendis (36) and Hasan Nawaz (35) the only other players to score more than 10.

The win takes Gladiators level on points with Lahore Qalandars and Peshawar Zalmi with a game in hand, but they remain behind both sides in fifth because of their inferior net run-rate.

Karachi stay second and four points behind leaders Islamabad United having played a game more.

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Rajasthan Royals fell to a fifth consecutive defeat in the Indian Premier League, losing to Royal Challengers Bengaluru by 11 runs.

Chasing 206, Yashasvi Jaiswal got the Rajasthan innings off to a flier with a 19-ball 49, but some tight middle-order bowling and a strong performance from Josh Hazlewood (4-33) sealed a first home victory for RCB.

Having been put into bat, RCB openers Virat Kohli and Phil Salt put on an opening partnership of 61 before the England batter was caught by Shimron Hetmyer off Wanindu Hasaranga for 26.

Kohli brought up his side's 100 and his 60th IPL half-century with consecutive fours in the 12th over, reaching his half-century from 32 balls.

He struck 70 from 42 before being caught at cover off England seamer Jofra Archer (1-33), while Devdutt Padikkal made 50 from 27 deliveries before being being taken at mid-on.

Tim David (23) and Jitesh Sharma (20) added 42 from the final 19 balls of the innings, with the former run out from final delivery as RCB closed on 205-5.

In the reply, Jaiswal hit seven fours and three sixes before he was caught at mid-wicket off Hazlewood from the penultimate ball of the powerplay.

Rajasthan stormed to 110-2 after nine overs, but some superb bowling from Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma dramatically slowed the Rajasthan run-rate, leaving the visiting side needing 46 from 24 deliveries.

Rajasthan hit 22 from Bhuvneshwar Kumar's 18th over, but Hazlewood returned to crush hopes of victory for the Royals, dismissing Dhruv Jurel (47) and Jofra Archer with consecutive deliveries while conceding just one run from his six balls.

Shubham Dubey and Wanindu Hasaranga were both dismissed in the final over as Rajasthan ended short of their target.

The win lifts RCB one place to third, level with leading sides Gujarat Titans and Delhi Capitals on 12 points, but having played a game more.

Rajasthan remain eighth with two wins and seven defeats.

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Babar Azam and Hussain Talat struck unbeaten half-centuries as Peshawar Zalmi beat Lahore Qalanders by seven wickets in the Pakistan Super League.

Captain Babar hit 56 off 42 from the top of the order, while Talat joined him for a 37-ball 51 as Peshawar reached passed their target of 130 in the 17th over.

Lahore had a horrific start having been put into bat, falling to 34-5 inside the powerplay and then 67-7.

Alzarri Joseph was the pick of the Peshawar bowlers, taking 3-15, while England seamer Luke Wood finished with figures of 2-25.

Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza was dismissed by Talat in the final over having hit 52 from 37 to help take the home side to 129, as they were bowled out with four balls to spare.

However he was the only Lahore batter to pass 16, with England's Sam Billings (nine) one of five batters to be removed for single figures.

Peshawar were 7-2 in the second over of their reply, with Saim Ayub caught for two and Tom Kohler-Cadmore bowled by Haris Rauf for a four-ball duck.

But an unbroken 93 partnership for the fourth wicket took Peshawar to victory, with Talat finishing the match and reaching his 50 with consecutive fours.

The win takes Peshawar level on points with Lahore with two wins and three defeats apiece, but Qalanders sit in third one place above their opponents thanks to their superior net run-rate.

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A new Major League Cricket franchise team will launch in 2027 with direct investment from New Zealand Cricket (NZC).

Terms have been agreed between NZC and a US-based consortium True North Sports Ventures (TNS) in what will be an unprecedented overseas franchise investment for a national governing body.

A statement from NZC said they will provide "high-performance and operational support" to the new MLC franchise "including coaching, management, and support staff, as well as integrating the franchise into NZC's domestic high-performance ecosystem".

TNS will be headed up by MLC co-founders Vijay Srinivasan and Sameer Mehta and include backers such as the 49ers Enterprises, the investment wing of the NFL's San Francisco 49ers.

The name and home city of the new franchise has yet to be decided although Atlanta in Georgia and the Canadian city of Toronto are both under consideration.

NZC will also have the option to invest in a second MLC franchise, earmarked for 2031.

"As franchise cricket grows globally, NZC needs to adapt to seize strategic opportunities that ensure the sustainability of our cricket network," said NZC chief executive Scott Weenink.

"This helps diversify our revenue streams, expands our global brand and fan base, and creates new talent development and retention pathways for both our players and coaches."

MLC launched in 2023 as a six-team tournament with this year's edition taking place between 12 June and 13 July across venues in Dallas, Florida and Oakland.

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Islamabad United continued their superb start to the Pakistan Super League, recording their fifth win from five with a seven-wicket victory over Multan Sultans.

Chasing 169, United States opener Andries Gous hit an unbeaten 80 from 45 balls as Islamabad reached their target in the 18th over.

Having chosen to bat, Multan scored 168-5 from their 20 overs, with Usman Khan top-scoring with 60.

Openers Yasir Khan (29) and Muhammad Rizwan (36) put on 51, while the latter added a further 65 with Usman before he was caught off the bowling of Shadab Khan.

That left Multan 116-2, but they scored just 52 from the remaining 39 deliveries, with Usman run out by Sahibzada Farhan in the penultimate over.

Usman had his revenge in the reply, catching Sahibzada off Ubaid Shah for 22.

But Gous added 81 with Colin Munro (45) and 55 with Mohammad Nawaz (21) to put his side in control, and finished the game with his fifth six.

The defending champions now have 10 points at the top of the table, while Multan sit bottom with one win from five.

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Rohit Sharma made it consecutive half-centuries for Mumbai Indians with 70 in their seven-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League.

The India captain, who hit 76 in the win against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday, hit eight fours and three sixes in a 46-ball innings, with his side reaching their target of 144 in the 16th over.

The 37-year-old opener averaged 13.66 from his first six matches this season, but has returned to form, putting on partnerships of 64 with Will Jacks (22) and 53 with Suryakumar Yadav (40 not out).

Rohit looked set to take his side over the victory line, but was caught at mid-wicket by Abhishek Sharma off Eshan Malinga with 14 left to win, leaving it to Suryakumar to close the match with consecutive fours in the following over.

Hyderabad were fortunate to have reached 143-8, having fallen to 13-4 in the fifth over, with Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar taking two wickets apiece.

Heinrich Klaasen rebuilt his side's innings, hitting 71 off 44 deliveries in an innings that featured nine fours and two sixes.

His 99-run partnership with Abhinav Manohar was only ended when he found Tilak Varma off Jasprit Bumrah's penultimate over, before Boult (4-26) returned to take two wickets, including that of Abhinav, at the death.

Mumbai lost opener Ryan Rickelton (11) early, caught and bowled by Jaydev Unadkat, but Rohit soon put his side on course for their fourth consecutive victory.

The win takes Mumbai up three places to third, above three other teams on 10 points by net run-rate.

Hyderabad remain in ninth, having won two and lost six of their eight games.

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Multan Sultans earned their first win of the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL) with a 33-run win over Lahore Qalandars.

Having lost their three opening matches, Multan posted an imposing 228-5 with opener Yasir Khan top-scoring with 87 from 44 balls which included six fours and six sixes.

Having added 89 in seven overs for the first wicket with captain Muhammad Rizwan, who made 32, Usman Khan added 39 and an unbeaten 18-ball 40 from Iftikhar Ahmed provided an explosive finish.

Seamer Haris Rauf conceded 54 runs from three overs in the onslaught.

Lahore kept up with the run-rate for most of their chase but were undone by regular wickets, and fell short on 195-9.

All-rounder Sikandar Raza finished unbeaten on 50 from 27 balls while England's Sam Billings made 43.

Ubaid Shah and Usama Mir were the pick of Multan's bowlers with 3-37 and 2-26 respectively.

Multan remain bottom of the PSL table despite the win, while Lahore are third behind Islamabad United and Karachi Kings.

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KL Rahul struck an unbeaten half-century to lead the in-form Delhi Capitals to a comprehensive eight-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Chasing a below-par 160 to win, Rahul anchored the innings to finish with 57 from 42 balls after opener Abhishek Porel had set the platform with 51 from 36.

Rahul hit the winning runs with a six off Prince Yadav with 13 balls to spare, accompanied by Delhi captain Axar Patel on 34 not out.

The win sees Delhi join leaders Gujarat Titans on 12 points, and are behind them only on net run-rate, while Lucknow are fifth.

Delhi's clinical run chase followed a superb fightback with the ball after Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram added an opening stand of 87 for Lucknow.

Markram reached his fourth half-century of the campaign, but his departure for 52 from 33 balls at the end of the 10th over saw Delhi seize control.

Mitchell Starc bowled the in-form Nicholas Pooran for nine and seamer Mukesh Kumar removed both Marsh for 45 and Abdul Samad for two in the 14th over to leave Lucknow 110-4.

Ayush Badoni was sent in as an impact player with quick runs required, and he delivered with 36 from 21 before he and captain Rishabh Pant fell to Mukesh in the final over as the seamer finished with fine figures of 4-33.