TKR spinners upend Barbados Royals in six-wicket victory
Trinbago Knight Riders battled to a six-wicket victory in their 2021 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) encounter with Barbados Royals.
The Knight Riders won the toss and opted to field first, which looked like a good decision as the Barbados Royals were restricted to double figures. Kyle Mayers as the opener was the only batsman who managed to score anything sizeable against a lethal Knight Riders bowling line-up.
With such a low total to chase, the Knight Riders would have fancied their chances, but had an early scare, as they lost two wickets in the PowerPlay, however, Colin Munro would eventually anchor the innings and take them to victory.
Barbados Royals shuffled their batting order in the last game to great success, so it was no surprise to see Mayers opening once again, scoring a fluent 24 runs off 12 balls. However, that was to be the highest score of the innings as Knight Riders used spin to undo the Royals; Kharry Pierre, Akeal Hosein and Sunil Narine combining to take seven of the nine wickets that fell, including that of key batsmen Glenn Phillips, Jason Holder and Azam Khan.
Trinbago Knight Riders started their chase by losing the wicket of Lendl Simmons to the pace of Mohammad Amir, which forced the team to play more cautiously. Munro, Darren Bravo and Tim Seifert carefully accrued runs, and despite losing four wickets, it ended up being a comfortable win for the Knight Riders thanks to Munro's 41 not out.
Trinbago Knight Riders now have five wins in this year's Hero CPL and move to the top of the league table.
Trinbago Knight Riders 99-4 (Munro 41*, Bravo 19; Amir 2-19, Bishop 2-20) beat Barbados Royals 93-9 (Mayers 24, Azam Khan 17, Joshua Bishop 17; Pierre 3-16, Seales 2-12) by six wickets.
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Kyle Mayers
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ICC names T20I teams of the year, with Babar and Sciver as captains
The International Cricket Council has announced its men's and women's T20I teams of the year, with Pakistan's Babar Azam and England's Nat Sciver named as captains.
Six countries are represented in the men's side, with three each from South Africa and Pakistan, two from Australia and one from England, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
The three Pakistan players to make the team are Babar, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi. Babar was the top scorer in the T20 World Cup and amassed 939 runs in 29 matches in 2021 overall. Rizwan managed 1,326 runs in the same number of matches at a strike rate of 134.89, while Afridi took 23 wickets in 21 matches at an economy of just 7.86.
Aiden Markram, David Miller and Tabraiz Shamsi are the chosen trio from South Africa. Markram scored 570 runs in 18 matches, Miller 377 runs at a strike rate of 149.60, and wrist spinner Shamsi took 36 wickets at an impressive economy rate of 5.72.
Australia duo Mitchell Marsh and Josh Hazlewood are also chosen, with the former making 627 runs in 21 matches and starring in the T20 World Cup final win over New Zealand.
Hazlewood also played a huge partl in his team's World Cup success, taking 23 wickets in 15 matches at an average of 16.34.
England's Jos Buttler makes the team after scoring 589 runs in 14 matches at 65.44 apiece, with one century. He was England's leading run-scorer in the World Cup with 269, which included a stunning century against Sri Lanka, who themselves are represented by Wanindu Hasaranga.
The spinner was another standout performer at the World Cup with 16 wickets to his name, more than anyone else in the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Hasaranga took 36 wickets in 20 matches last year.
The final selection is Bangladesh's Mustafizur Rahman, who claimed 28 wickets in 20 matches at an average of 17.39, as well as keeping things tight with an economy of 7.00.
The women's team sees five English selections, including Sciver as captain, along with Tammy Beaumont, Danni Wyatt, Amy Jones and Sophie Ecclestone.
They are joined by Smriti Mandhana (India), Gaby Lewis (Ireland), Laura Wolvaardt, Marizanne Kapp, Shabnim Ismail (all South Africa) and Loryn Phiri (Zimbabwe).