Franchise Cricket

Timothy Abraham
BBC Sport Journalist

Image source, LandTek Group

The opening matches of this year's Major League Cricket tournament will be played on drop-in pitches used for last summer's T20 World Cup in New York.

Two of the four turf pitches installed at Eisenhower Park in Nassau County have been dug up and transported 3,000 miles by trailer to the Oakland Coliseum in California.

MLC have enlisted Damian Hough, head curator at the Adelaide Oval, to oversee their installation at the iconic former home of the Oakland Athletics baseball team.

The pitches, which proved difficult for batting during the T20 World Cup fixtures at the Long Island venue, will have a month to bed in before MLC's third season gets under way in Oakland on 12 June.

MLC officials are confident that following a bit more use the pitches will be more conducive to runscoring than was achieved during the World Cup where the average score was just 107.

After the conclusion of the nine MLC fixtures at the Oakland Coliseum the pitches will be dug up again then stored for future use by the USA's franchise tournament.

The two pitches which have remained at the ground in New York are under the control of Nassau County which leaves the potential for major cricket to be played in Eisenhower Park again at some stage in the future.

There had been hopes matches at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028 could be played there, with the timezone in New York more appealing to South Asian TV audiences.

That prospect faded when it was announced the cricket tournament at LA 2028 would be played at a temporary stadium in Pomona, a southern Californian city about an hour's drive from the athletes' village.

And when contacted by BBC Sport a spokesperson for LA 2028 reiterated that "cricket will be played in Pomona at LA 2028" with no other sites seemingly under consideration.

MLC had been keen to hold games at the pop-up stadium in New York before it was dismantled after the conclusion of the World Cup last year, but costs were too prohibitive.

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Rajasthan Royals have signed South Africans Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Nandre Burger as replacement players for the remainder of the Indian Premier League.

The pair replace the injured duo of Nitish Rana and Sandeep Sharma.

Pretorius, 19, receives his first IPL contract after finishing as top run-scorer in the 2025 SA20, striking 397 runs at an average of 33.08.

The uncapped top-order batter and wicketkeeper is also set to play for Hampshire in this summer's T20 Blast.

Seamer Burger, 29, was with Rajasthan in 2024, taking seven wickets in five matches at an average of 20.71.

The 29-year-old has not played any senior cricket since September, after injuring his back in an ODI against Ireland.

Rana has scored 217 runs in eleven matches this season, with two half-centuries, while pacer Sharma has taken nine wickets from 10 innings.

Rajasthan sit ninth in the IPL standings with two games to play, and can no longer qualify for the end of season play-offs.

Image source, BCCI/IPL

India icon MS Dhoni said he will not rush any decision over his retirement, hinting he could continue beyond his 44th birthday.

Dhoni, who last played for India in 2019 and turns 44 in July, has continued to play for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League.

His side are bottom of the standings this season and he has played a bit-part role but took CSK over the line in a win against Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday.

Speaking about the support from the Kolkata crowd, Dhoni said: "They don't know when it will be my last year so want to come and support me and watch me play.

"I only play two months in a year. When the IPL is over I have to work hard for another six to eight months just to see if my body will be able to take this pressure.

"Nothing for me to decide right now."

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Kolkata Knight Riders' hopes of reaching the Indian Premier League play-offs suffered a significant blow as the 2024 champions were upset by Chennai Super Kings.

Defending 180, KKR reduced already-eliminated CSK to 60-5 inside the powerplay in their chase.

Dewald Brevis and Shivam Dube carefully rebuilt before the game swung when South African Brevis was dropped on 20 from 16 balls, at which stage the score was 93-5.

The ball burst through Angkrish Raghuvanshi's hands at long-on and went for six - and Brevis followed by striking two more sixes and three fours in an over that cost 30.

He was caught for 52 from 25 balls two overs later but Dube continued until the penultimate over for 45.

He was out with 10 needed from eight balls but MS Dhoni finished unbeaten on 17 as a two-wicket win was sealed with two balls to spare.

Ajinkya Rahane had earlier made 48, Andre Russell 38 and Manish Pandey 36 not out in KKR's 179-6. Ravindra Jadeja took 1-34 to overtake Dwayne Bravo and become CSK's leading all-time wicket-taker in the IPL with 141.

They are not mathematically out of the race for a top-four finish but must win their final two matches and hope a series of results go their way.

• Scorecard, IPL fixtures & results, table

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Royal Challengers Bengaluru batter Devdutt Padikkal has been ruled out of the remainder of the Indian Premier League with a hamstring injury.

The left-handed India international has played in 10 of RCB's 11 matches this season and has scored 247 runs at a strike-rate of 150.60.

He will be replaced by another India international, Mayank Agarwal, who went unsold at the auction last year.

Right-hander Agarwal, 34, has played 127 matches across 14 IPL season at five different franchises, including three years at RCB from 2011.

RCB are currently second in the standings and need one more win to guarantee a place in the play-offs as they chase their long-awaited first title.

Elsewhere, Delhi Capitals have signed Afghanistan batter Sediqullah Atal for the rest of the tournament. He comes in for England batter Harry Brook, who pulled out of the tournament in March but was not replaced.

Image source, BBC Sport

Five matches remain in the league phase of the Pakistan Super League 2025.

Quetta Gladiators have already qualified while Multan Sultans are out of contention.

Here's what the other four teams need...

Remaining fixtures (all start 16:00 BST): Islamabad United v Quetta Gladiators (7 May), Peshawar Zalmi v Karachi Kings (8 May), Peshawar Zalmi v Lahore Qalandars (9 May), Islamabad United v Karachi Kings (10 May), Multan Sultans v Quetta Gladiators (11 May)

Quetta Gladiators know they are in the play-offs but victory against Islamabad United on Wednesday would guarantee their place in the top two, thus avoiding the eliminator.

Eleven points is the number needed to guarantee progression.

Islamabad United need two wins to guarantee a top-two finish. One is enough for them to qualify for the play-offs in general, likewise Karachi Kings.

If the Kings beat fifth-place Peshawar Zalmi on Thursday, Friday's match between Zalmi and Lahore Qalandars is effectively a quarter-final with the winner going through and the loser eliminated.

Image source, Getty Images

Coach Daniel Vettori says bowler-friendly home pitches hurt Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League this year after they fell out of contention in the competition.

Sunrisers, beaten finalists last year, are eighth in the standings and unable to qualify for the play-offs after Monday's washout against Delhi Capitals.

Sunrisers, known for their high-scoring batting line-up, made three totals in excess of 200 at home last year, plus another three away, but this season have largely struggled.

They piled up 286-6 in their first match of the season but have since only passed 200 once. The average first innings score at the Sunrisers home ground has also dropped from 205 to 192.

"This year, the conditions weren't as we expected," former New Zealand spinner Vettori said.

"If you look at last year, there were a lot of high-scoring games here.

"These surfaces in particular have been a little bit different. It has been tricky, it hasn't been easy for the batters."

Sunrisers' struggles can also be shown by the fact key batters Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen are all outside of the top 25 in the run-scoring charts for 2025.

Head, Abhishek and Klaasen were fourth, 10th and 11th respectively in that list last year.

"There have been two surfaces that have been 250-plus, and there have been four here that have been probably more conducive for the fast bowlers," Vettori said.

"Not so much the spinners but new ball has been a little bit sticky, hard to hit, not coming onto the bat.

"The IPL has some of the best new-ball bowlers in the world and they were able to exploit those conditions."

• Who needs what to reach IPL play-offs?

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Sunrisers Hyderabad hopes of reaching the Indian Premier League play-offs are over after rain washed out their match against Delhi Capitals.

Needing to win their last four matches to have any chance of qualifying, Sunrisers' bowlers did their job by restricting the Capitals to 133-7.

It could have been worse for the visitors who were 29-5 but Tristan Stubbs hit 41 not out and Ashutosh Sharma 41. Sunrisers captain Pat Cummins took 3-19.

Sunrisers' bid was ruined, however, when the drizzle that arrived late in Delhi's innings turned into torrential rain during the interval.

The players were unable to return to the field.

The point moves Sunrisers - beaten finalists last year - up to eighth but with three matches left they are seven points outside of the top four.

Delhi remain fifth, having missed the chance to move into the top four, but the point is more than looked likely during their batting effort.

• Scorecard, IPL fixtures & results, table

Image source, PCB

Multan Sultans' miserable Pakistan Super League campaign continued with a seven-wicket defeat by Peshawar Zalmi.

On the back of seven defeats in eight matches, Multan were dismissed for 108 in 19.1 overs.

They reached 60-2 in the ninth but the loss of Tayyab Tahir for 22 sparked a sorry collapse of eight wickets for 48 runs.

It was the fourth time they have been dismissed for less than 120 in this year's competition.

Peshawar took just 13 overs to complete their chase. Opener Saim Ayub scored 49 and Australian Max Bryant 38 not out.

Multan remain bottom of the table while Peshawar stay fifth with two group-stage matches remaining but are now only a point behind the Lahore Qalandars who have played a game more.

• Scorecard, PSL fixtures & results, table

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Prabhsimran Singh hit 91 from 48 balls as Punjab Kings beat Lucknow Super Giants by 37 runs to move second in the Indian Premier League.

The opener hit six fours and seven sixes, making a half-century for the third match in a row, as his side cruised to 236-5.

The 24-year-old put on partnerships of 48 with Josh Inglis (30), 78 with Shreyas Iyer (45) and 54 with Shashank Singh (33 not out), falling in Digvesh Singh Rathi's penultimate over, caught in the covers by Nicholas Pooran.

Lucknow were never in the chase, with Arshdeep Singh (3-16) removing openers Mitchell Marsh (0) and Aiden Markram (13) in the space of four balls before returning to trap Pooran lbw for six.

Azmatullah Omarzai had both Rishabh Pant (18) and David Miller (11) caught by Shashank at point as Lucknow slipped to 74-5 at the halfway stage, way behind the required run-rate.

Ayush Badoni and Abdul Samad dug in for almost seven overs, putting on 81 for the sixth wicket, until the latter was caught and bowled by Marco Jansen for 45.

Badoni was ultimately caught at short third by Arshdeep in Yuzvendra Chahal's final over, finishing with a 40-ball 74, as Lucknow finished on 199-7.

Kings move up two places to second, one point behind leaders Royal Challengers Bengaluru, while Lucknow remain in seventh with five wins and six defeats.

• Scorecard, IPL fixtures & results, table

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Lahore Qalandars missed the chance to go top of the Pakistan Super League as Irfan Khan Niazi hit an unbeaten 48 from 21 balls to seal a four-wicket win for Karachi Kings in a rain-affected game.

Chasing a revised target of 168, Niazi struck five sixes in the final three overs, including one to finish the match with three balls to spare.

Having been put into bat, Lahore's openers raced to 90 before the dismissal of Mohammad Naeem (65) in the eighth over, after which the players were forced off.

When play resumed Fakhar Zaman pushed on to 51, but Lahore lost a flurry of wickets as they hurried to set a score in a reduced 15-overs-a-side game.

Abbas Afridi took 4-27 while five Lahore batters were out for single figures as the home side finished on 160-8.

Karachi openers David Warner and Tim Seifert both made 24 in the reply, while James Vince was caught at long-off off Rishad Hossain for 13.

When Khushdil Shah was the fifth wicket to fall, caught by Naeem off Haris Rauf for nine, Karachi needed 52 from 22 deliveries.

Niazi and Mohammad Nabi (15) responded with a 45-run partnership, and while Nabi was caught tamely from the first ball of Daryl Mitchell's final over, his batting partner hit the remaining seven runs required to close out the victory.

Karachi move above their opponents into third, level on points with second-place Islamabad United, while Lahore remain two points off leaders Quetta Gladiators but with a superior net run-rate.

• Scorecard, PSL fixtures & results, table

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Kolkata Knight Riders remain in contention for the Indian Premier League end of season play-offs after beating Rajasthan Royals by just one run.

Chasing 207, Rajasthan required 22 runs from Vaibhav Arora's final over, and Shubham Dubey smashed two sixes and a four to leave them needing three from the final ball.

Dubey struck the last delivery to long-off, and Rinku Singh's throw beat Jofra Archer's attempt to return to the non-striker's end for a two and resulting tie and super over.

The defending champions would have hoped for a less nervy finish, having had their opponents 71-5 in the eighth over.

The 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi was dismissed for a two-ball four before Moeen Ali removed Yashasvi Jaiswal (34) and then Kunal Rathore for a duck.

Rathore was the first of three batters to be dismissed without scoring, as Varun Chakravarthy bowled Dhruv Jurel and Wanindu Hasaranga within the space of three balls.

The visitors' fortunes were turned by Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer, who put on a partnership of 92.

Parag struck eight sixes in his 45-ball innings, including six consecutive boundary clearances, the first five from Moeen's 13th over.

The pairing was broken by Harshit Rana, who had Hetmyer top-edge to Sunil Narine for 29 then saw Parag hole out to Arora for a 45-ball 95.

Kolkata's total of 206-4 was a team effort with Rahmanullah Gurbaz (35), Ajinkya Rahane (30), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (44) all chipping in, before Andre Russell (57 off 25) and Singh (19 off 6) finished the innings strongly, setting a score that Rajasthan couldn't quite chase down.

Kolkata move up one place to sixth, two points off Punjab Kings in the final play-off position but having played one game more.

Rajasthan remain in eighth with three wins and nine losses and are out of play-off contention.

• Scorecard, IPL fixtures & results, table