Franchise Cricket

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In terms of debuts, Ashwani Kumar's could have hardly gone better.

The 23-year-old was called into action almost immediately on his Indian Premier League debut, leaping to catch the dangerous Kolkata Knight Riders opener Quinton de Kock.

But that was just the start - called to bowl in the fourth over, Ashwani had opposition Ajinkya Rahane caught from his first ball. Rahane has 195 caps for India, Ashwani had played just 10 matches in his senior career.

The left-arm seamer went on to take 4-24 from three overs as MI dismissed KKR for 116, a total they chased down with ease.

He had Rinku Singh caught by Naman Dhir, then produced superb balls to uproot the stumps of Manish Pandey and Andre Russell.

"I am really, really happy for the young kid," said Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya.

"It is all scouts - they picked him. They have gone to all the places and picked these young kids.

"We played a practice game, he had that zip, that late swing, something off the wicket, a different action and he was a leftie.

"We just thought because of the options he had and he has good death options - we just backed him and the way he took that wicket of Russell was a very crucial wicket, and how he started with the catch of de Kock, it was terrific to see a fast bowler jumping that high to take a catch!"

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Seamer Ashwani Kumar took 4-24 on his Indian Premier League debut to help Mumbai Indians beat Kolkata Knight Riders by eight wickets.

The left-armer was the star of the show as the 2024 champions KKR were dismissed for 116 in 16.2 overs.

Mumbai easily chased down their target with 43 balls to spare, as opener Ryan Rickelton made an unbeaten 62 to help his side record their first win in this year's tournament.

KKR endured a horror start to their innings, losing openers Sunil Narine and Quinton de Kock for a duck and one respectively, slipping to 2-2.

Ashwani, who was playing in just his fifth senior T20, soon got in on the act, seeing KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane caught at backward point from his first ball in the competition.

He would then have caught Rinku Singh caught in a similar area, before bowling impact sub Manish Pandey and the dangerous Andre Russell.

The 23-year-old did not even get a chance to bowl a fourth over as Mitchell Santner wrapped up the innings with the dismissal of Ramandeep Singh, who edged to short third.

Rickelton and Rohit Sharma put on 46 for the opening wicket before the latter toe-ended a shot to Harshit Rana at mid-off off Russell's bowling.

England's Will Jacks added 16 before he was caught impressively by Rahane at cover to hand Russell a second wicket.

But by that point the match was already over as a contest, and Suryakumar Yadav closed the game in style, hitting Russell for consecutive fours then a six a few balls later, finishing the innings in the 13th over.

The result means MI rise from the bottom of the table to sixth, and are replaced by KKR, whose net run-rate has dropped to -1.428.

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Legendary India wicketkeeper MS Dhoni "can't bat for 10 overs" during the Indian Premier League, says Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming.

Dhoni, 43, is continuing to play in the tournament despite not playing any other cricket and has come in at eight, nine and seven in CSK's first three games.

He only faced two balls in the first game which Chennai won, before he made 30 from 16 in vain in their defeat by Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

The right-hander then came in in the 16th over and made 16 from 11 before being dismissed as CSK slipped to a six-run defeat by Rajasthan Royals on Sunday.

Over his stellar career Dhoni has earned a reputation as one of the game's great finishers with the bat but his strike-rate has declined over recent years.

"It's a time thing - MS judges it," said Fleming. "His knees aren't what they used to be. He's moving OK, but there's still an attrition aspect to it.

"He can't bat 10 overs running full stick, so he will gauge on the day what he can give us.

"If the game's in the balance, he will go a little bit earlier, and he backs other players when other opportunities are up. It's about balancing that.

"I said last year he's too valuable and leadership wise to throw him in after nine or 10 overs - he's never done that. From around 13/14 he's looking to go depending on who is in."

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England fast bowler Jofra Archer took his first wicket in this year's Indian Premier League as Rajasthan Royals beat Chennai Super Kings by six runs.

Archer chalked up the most expensive figures in IPL history - 0-76 from four overs - in his first match of the 2025 tournament against Sunrisers Hyderabad a week ago.

His second outing for the Royals versus Kolkata Knight Riders last Wednesday was not much better as his 2.3 wicketless overs were dispatched for 33.

However, the 29-year-old bowled with pace and aggression to finish with 1-13 from three overs in a gritty win over CSK as Rajasthan registered their first victory of the campaign.

Archer conceded just one run in his first two overs and became the first player to bowl a maiden in this year's IPL.

It set the tone for Rajasthan in the field as CSK were kept in check by a disciplined bowling and fielding display.

CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad made 63 off 44 balls but he was one of four wickets to fall to Royals spinner Wanindu Hasaranga (4-35).

However, with master finisher Mahendra Singh Dhoni at the crease, 20 needed off the last six balls, and a frenzied yellow wall roaring him on, CSK still had hope.

Royals skipper Riyan Parag opted to give Sandeep Sharma the final over of the game, instead of Archer, and he got the job done.

Dhoni whacked his first legal delivery to deep mid-wicket where Shimron Hetmyer took a spectacular catch before Sandeep kept his nerve to close out the game.

Earlier, Nitish Rana clubbed a 36-ball 81 and Parag 37 made off 28 as Rajasthan posted 182-9 from their 20 overs.

Noor Ahmad and Matheesha Pathirana both finished with 2-28 from their four overs for the Super Kings who had battled back gamely after Rana had got Rajasthan off to a flyer.

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The Indian Premier League is in full swing and BBC Radio 5 Live will continue to bring you commentary throughout the tournament.

Commentaries will be available on BBC Sounds, BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and the BBC Sport website and app (available to UK users only).

Here is the schedule for this week:

Sunday, 30 March: Delhi Capitals v Sunrisers Hyderabad (11:00 BST) & Rajasthan Royals v Chennai Super Kings (15:00 BST - concludes online-only).

Monday, 31 March: Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders (15:00 BST)

Tuesday, 1 April: Lucknow Super Giants v Punjab Kings (15:00 BST)

Wednesday, 2 April: Royal Challengers Bengaluru v Gujarat Titans (15:00 BST)

Thursday, 3 April: Kolkata Knight Riders v Sunrisers Hyderabad (15:00 BST)

All times are match start times and are subject to change.

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Gujarat Titans eased to a 36-run victory over Mumbai Indians to notch up their first win in this year's Indian Premier League.

Opener Sai Sudharsan continued his impressive start to the tournament with a second consecutive half-century as his 63 off 41 balls provided the backbone of Gujarat's total of 196-8.

Titans captain Shubman Gill and England's Jos Buttler, who made a half-century in his first IPL outing of 2025, also chipped in with 38 off 27 balls and 39 off 24 respectively.

Hardik Pandya led the way with the ball for MI at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad with 2-29.

Five-time IPL champions Mumbai suffered an early setback in their chase when Mohammed Siraj (2-34) removed openers Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton cheaply.

Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma rebuilt with a patient third-wicket stand of 62 before the latter was snared for 39 by Prasidh Krishna, who bagged a miserly 2-18 from his four overs.

MI's hopes effectively rested on whether Suryakumar and Hardik could accelerate at the business end of the match as the run-rate climbed.

So when Suryakumar hit Prasidh into the hands of long-off in the 16th over to depart for 48, and Mumbai skipper Hardik perished softly to Kagiso Rabada for 11 six balls later, the game was over as a contest.

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Former South Africa coach Russell Domingo has taken over from Darren Gough as head coach of Lahore Qalandars for the 2025 Pakistan Super League.

Ex-England and Yorkshire fast bowler Gough, 54, was in charge of the Qalandars for the 2024 season, but they finished bottom of the table with just one win.

However, Gough said on Wednesday he was unavailable for this year's tournament, external due to "personal commitments".

Domingo, who coached South Africa from 2012 to 2017 and Bangladesh from 2019 to 2022, said he was "privileged" to take on the role with the Qalandars.

"I can't wait to get to work, meet the players and get to the know the management and start preparations for what promises to be an amazingly exciting campaign," Domingo said.

Qalandars start their PSL campaign against Quetta Gladiators at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on 13 April.

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Royal Challengers Bengaluru made it two wins from two at the start of the Indian Premier League with a 50-run victory over five-time champions Chennai Super Kings.

RCB, still chasing their first IPL title, battled their way to 197-7 and then impressively restricted their hosts to 146-8.

England opener Phil Salt provided a fast start with 32 from 16 balls while Virat Kohli played more conservatively for 31 from 30.

Skipper Rajat Patidar was dropped twice en route to 51 from 32 and Tim David added a late boost with three sixes in the final over bowled by England international Sam Curran to end 22 not out off eight balls.

David's Australia team-mate Josh Hazlewood then took two wickets in the second over of the chase and CSK never recovered.

Curran struggled for eight from 13 balls until he hit England team-mate Liam Livingstone, who finished with 2-28, to long-on.

New Zealand batter Rachin Ravindra was the highest scorer with 41. MS Dhoni ended on 30 not out, in the process becoming CSK's highest run-scorer in the IPL.

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Most runs for Chennai Super Kings in IPL

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1. MS Dhoni - 4,699 runs, 204 innings

2. Suresh Raina - 4,687 runs, 171 innings

3. Faf du Plessis - 2,721 runs, 86 innings

4. Ruturaj Gaikwad - 2,433 runs, 67 innings

5. Ravindra Jadeja - 1,939 runs, 127 innings

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Lucknow Super Giants secured an impressive and comprehensive five-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad to earn their first win in this year's Indian Premier League.

Lucknow did well to limit Sunrisers' destructive batting line-up to 190-9 and then cruised to their target with 3.5 overs to spare.

Nicholas Pooran crashed 70 from 26 balls and Mitchell Marsh hit a typically powerful 52 from 31.

Sunrisers piled up 286-6 against Rajasthan in their opening match but, with some predicting a score in excess of 300 on another flat pitch, were checked by the loss of regular wickets.

Seamer Shardul Thakur dismissed Abhishek Sharma for six and Ishan Kishan a duck in consecutive balls, while Travis Head threatened in hitting five fours and three sixes.

But Head was bowled by seamer Prince Yadav for 47 and contributions of 32 from Nitish Kumar Reddy, 26 from Heinrich Klaasen and 36 by Aniket Verma were not enough.

Shardul finished with 4-34 and is the tournament's leading wicket-taker after eight matches, despite being unsold in the auction and being signed as a late injury replacement.

Scorecard, IPL fixtures & results, table

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After seven matches, Shardul Thakur is the leading wicket-taker at the 2025 Indian Premier League - a tournament he should not have even been part of.

India all-rounder Shardul surprisingly went unsold at last year's auction and was instead due to line up for Essex in the County Championship next week.

But, with Essex's players preparing in the English spring, Shardul got the call from Lucknow Super Giants after an injury to Mohsin Khan.

He took 2-19 in Lucknow's first match against Delhi Capitals and followed that with 4-34 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, including the big wickets of Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan.

"All of these things keep happening in cricket," Shardul said.

"There were few enquiries. LSG approached me first so I had to give them preference.

"[Lucknow mentor] Zaheer Khan had called me when I was playing in the Ranji Trophy and he told me that you may be called in as a potential replacement so don't switch yourself off.

"Ups and downs are a part of life. I have always backed my skills."

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Quinton de Kock's 97 not out led Kolkata Knight Riders to a comfortable eight-wicket victory over Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League.

Chasing 152, De Kock batted throughout, timing the ball well on a slow pitch to hit eight fours and six sixes in his 61 balls.

He went on after former England all-rounder and fellow opener Moeen Ali was run out for five from 12 balls.

England quick Jofra Archer, who conceded the worst figures in IPL history in the Royals opening-game defeat, started better in an opening two-over spell of 0-15.

But Archer returned with only 17 needed from 18 balls and De Kock struck a four and two sixes to secure victory with 15 balls to spare. Archer finished with 0-33 from 2.3 overs.

He had earlier struck two late sixes in the Royals' 151-9 - a score that always looked below par.

They lost regular wickets - Dhruv Jurel the top-scorer with 33 - and struggled to score against KKR's spinners.

India international Varun Chakravarthy took 2-17 while Moeen returned figures of 2-23 on his KKR debut.

After defeat in their opening game, KKR earned their first victory of the season but the Royals remain winless.

Scorecard, IPL fixtures & results, table

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The Oakland Coliseum, the iconic former home of the Oakland Athletics baseball team, will host nine matches during the 2025 Major League Cricket season.

The Athletics played at the Coliseum in Bay Area, California for 56 years before leaving in 2024 as part of the franchise's move to Las Vegas.

The stadium, which has also previously hosted football and American football matches, will have a reduced capacity of 12,000 spectators when it hosts cricket for the first time.

It will host the opening match on 12 June, as San Francisco Unicorns meet last year's winners Washington Freedom, and eight further matches, including two more Unicorns home fixtures.

MLC matches will also be played for the first time at the 25,000 Broward County Stadium in Florida, which has been preferred to Church Street Park in Morrisville, North Carolina.

The Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas will again hold a chunk of group games in addition to the knockout stages and final on 13 July.

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Former Australia batter David Warner will captain Karachi Kings in the forthcoming Pakistan Super League.

Warner has taken over the role from Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood for the 10th edition of the T20 franchise tournament from 11 April to 18 May.

The 38-year-old, who was unsold in this year's Indian Premier League mega auction, is taking part in the PSL for the first time.

"We have a fantastic line-up and I'm super excited to take on the role of captain this year," Warner said.

Warner skippered Sydney Thunder to the final of the 2025 Big Bash League after Cricket Australia lifted a leadership ban last year.

In 2018, Warner had been banned from cricket for 12 months and prevented from holding leadership positions as part of his punishment for a ball-tampering scandal.

Warner played 110 T20 internationals for Australia between 2009 and 2024 scoring 3,277 runs at an average of 33.43.

The left-handed opener will also play for London Spirit in The Hundred in August.

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Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey has been picked by Islamabad United as a partial replacement player for the Pakistan Super League.

Carey, 33, was selected by the defending PSL champions in a mini replacement draft on Monday due to the unavailability of Rassie van der Dussen for a portion of the tournament.

United said 36-year-old South Africa batter Van der Dussen will miss a chunk of the PSL for "personal matters" and does so with their "full support".

Carey had made himself for the original PSL draft in January but was not picked.

Elsewhere, Peshawar Zalmi have drafted all-rounder George Linde as a full replacement for fellow South African Corbin Bosch.

Bosch withdrew from the PSL earlier this month to sign for Indian Premier League franchise Mumbai Indians.

Bangladesh fast bowler Nahid Rana and wicketkeeper-batter Litton Das have been reserved as replacement picks for Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi Kings respectively.

Quetta Gladiators and the Kings have reserved their replacement picks for New Zealand batters Mark Chapman and Kane Williamson.